The Daisy Chain
by slytherinsal
Summary: in a burst of accidental magic, Harry uses legilimensy to see pictures of his mother, and wish magic turns him into a little girl who looks like Lily. Vernon dies, and Petunia looks for somewhere to move. In Crawley they meet a little girl who also has accidental magic and with Petunia's knowledge and Dan Granger's cunning, plots are made. Fem! Harry, an experiment for me.
1. Chapter 1

_Ok, I wasn't planning any more stories outside of the ones I'm continuing, but I dreamed this, and thought, why not? And it's really, really whimsical so if you don't like the whimsy of Harry becoming a girl, don't read it._

 **The eyes have it**

 **Prologue**

Petunia stared into Lily's eyes, which were looking at her with confusion over why the boy was being punished, the way Lily had looked before That Boy had explained that Lily was a witch.

And then this boy was changing in front of her, and she was looking at Lily at the same age, four years old, when they were still friends.

Petunia fainted.

When she came to, there was a cushion under her head and a blanket over her, and Harry was holding her hand. He still looked like Lily.

"Aunt P'tunia? I ... I didn't mean to upset you. But I saw pictures of her behind your eyes, and you seemed to be hugging her, so I thought if I looked like her you might like me more."

Petunia shut her eyes and wondered how she would have felt if her own father had treated Lily the way Vernon treated Harry.

"Thank you for trying," she said. "I ... I think you'd better change back before your uncle gets home."

"I did try but I don't know how," said Harry. "It was a big WISH and I don't know how to unwish. Aunt P'tunia, I want to use the bathroom, but I've not got the right bits."

"It's a total change to being a girl?" Petunia was shocked. "I ... give me a hand to get up and I'll come to the bathroom with you and, er, explain how to ..." she hoped that magic had understood the intent and had connected everything up properly. Having to take a child with no private parts at all to hospital was terrifying.

Fortunately, magic does understand intent when wish magic is involved, and Harry was too young to be embarrassed.

"I'm surprised that evil old man in the pimp suit hasn't shown up," said Petunia.

"Oh, it doesn't make a noise like moving or shifting things does," said Harry, as if that explained it. Maybe, thought Petunia, it did.

"Well, we shall need to talk to someone of ... those types," she said. "I ... we need to get you changed back."

"I like being a girl," said Harry. "Nobody will call me a sissy if I don't like football and like to draw."

"Well, we still need to talk to someone, in case it causes any problems," said Petunia. "I don't know what your uncle is going to say."

Harry shuddered.

"Didn't he like _her_?" he asked.

"Your mother? He hated her and all she stood for," said Petunia. "I ... it wasn't fair, I was the older, and she got to go to a special school and do magic."

Harry hugged her spontaneously.

"We must see if there's a way for you to do magic too," he said. "If ... if you want to be a freak too."

Petunia burst into tears.

"I wanted it. And I've persuaded myself I hate it but I still want it," she sobbed. "But Dumbledore said I never would be able to do it. I have hated him from then, he wouldn't even let me go to school and study the things that didn't need magic."

"He's a horrid old man in a pimp suit," said Harry, parroting back what he didn't really understand. "I bet he doesn't know everything."

"Well, I expect it's too late, but you never know," said Petunia, not wanting to dampen this unwonted desire to help her. She thought the boy ... the child ... had stopped wanting to please.

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Unseen on the floor, a small black residue of evil, which had been ejected by the change, wriggled, helplessly.

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Vernon Dursley came through the front door in his usual ebullient way. He stared at the little girl standing on the stairs with his wife.

" _What, another bloody freak from your family?"_ he roared, starting forward. He stood on the small black residue of evil, slipped, flailed wildly, knocking off his mother's decorative barometer and landing heavily on his back, smashing his head on the floor, and being hit by the brass end of the barometer on his forehead split seconds later.

Petunia and Harry both screamed.

Petunia ran for the phone to call for an ambulance, and Harry sat hunched up on the stairs. Neither of them noticed the small black residue of evil on Vernon's shoe vaporising and entering the zig-zag scar caused by the falling barometer.

Inside the living host, the horcrux frantically started searching for a magical core. It was to be disappointed, but it had made its choice, and the magic of its construction was leached out in making some kind of connection.

The ambulance crew knew nothing of horcruxes, but plenty about head-wounds. Petunia declared that Vernon must have had mud on his boots to have slipped; and there was a greasy stain on the floor. The ambulance crew were used to domestics, but they were more used to clearing away the remains of scrawny women like Petunia from assaults by big bullies like Vernon, so if she pushed him or booby-trapped the floor, they decided not to get curious about it. Especially as the scrawny woman's daughter was about the age so many men started interfering with. And if the ambulance crew jumped to some wrong conclusions this was not about to impact on Petunia.

Petunia phoned Mrs. Polkiss and asked if she could keep Dudley overnight as his father had suffered a nasty accident. Mrs. Polkiss reluctantly agreed. Petunia bundled Harry into the car, with a hat over his now rather red hair. Children at that age were sexless.

The Accident and Emergency admittance room was scary, and Harry hung close to Petunia as she answered questions about her husband for the records. At last they were shown into a small waiting room, and Petunia was brought tea, and Harry was given a glass of juice.

Petunia turned to Harry.

"Harry, if you want to stay being a girl, we can't call you Harry. Would you prefer to be Harriet or have a flower name like the other girls in my family always have had?"

"I want a flower name," said Harry.

"Hyacinth? Holly?" Petunia wondered.

"Does it have to begin with –h-?" asked Harry.

"I suppose not. I don't know how much of a fuss the other sort will make," said Petunia. Harry frowned.

"Well if they haven't got better sense than to wear Cadbury purple velvet suits, I 'spect their ideas are silly," he said. "I like Dandelions but I don't think it's a name. I like Daisies too."

"Well, if you want to be Daisy, you can always change it to a more formal Marguerite when you are older, which is a kind of daisy."

Daisy nodded.

"I can be Daisy Harriet," he suggested.

"Daisy Harriet Jamie; some girls are called Jamie, it's a bit American but if your father left you any money it should help."

Daisy nodded.

"Am I still Potter?"

"No, you can be Evans for now. This is difficult. We need to check with their sort to see you haven't been hurt by changing, but I want to keep it from that old man. And what shall I do about Dudley? And Vernon when he recovers?"

Daisy slipped her hand into Petunia's. Apparently being a girl made her more wanted.

"Tell Dudley the freak went away and you got him a sister," he said. "He won't care." She thought for a moment. "And we could run away from Uncle Vernon if my father did leave any money."

"Unfortunately we can't. The old man would know if we left; he put up wards made with your blood for some reason."

Daisy wrinkled her nose.

"Yuk!" she said. "Is that the stones round the garden that tingle?"

"I ... probably," said Petunia.

"Oh, that's easy then," said Daisy. "We can take them with us. We can put them round the car, and then round where we go to live."

Petunia stared. Could it be that easy? The old buffoon had already stopped them moving once, but of course they had intent to leave the wards.

"It's worth a try," she whispered. It would take a lot of planning, but she could do it.

The doctor attending Vernon came in.

"Mrs. Dursley, could I have a word?" he asked.

Petunia went out of the room with him.

"Mrs. Dursley, I'm sorry, but your husband is in a persistent vegetative state, there is no brain activity at all," said the doctor. "I would not recommend keeping the life support."

Petunia swallowed. Vernon had a nice little life insurance policy, and she was sick of his temper.

"Turn it off, then," she said. "No point letting his son hope fruitlessly."

As the machine was turned off, the horcrux struggled in its host, but had no longer got enough magic to do anything but die quietly along with Vernon's body.

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Daisy was outfitted hastily by Petunia on the way home from the hospital, taking advantage of the St Elizabeth Hospice charity shop.

"It would have been nice if the old fool who dumped you had arranged for us to have your keep," s Petunia had said. "I didn't like your father, but he dressed like Onassis meets Rothschild. He must have had some money to help towards your upbringing. But stuck in Privet Drive and unable to move to a place where we could entertain properly, your uncle couldn't get the promotion he wanted. It wouldn't have been far to Birchtree Approach, but the houses are far superior."

Daisy nodded; the bus into town overlooked Birchtree Approach for a brief glimpse over a bridge, and the houses were large, surrounded by big gardens, well set back from the road, and had double garages. Some of them had swimming pools.

"I think I had uncles," she said.

"Well, we shall see about finding out about them." Said Petunia.

Dudley stared curiously at Daisy.

"This is your new sister," said Petunia. "Play nicely with her. You'll have to keep all your things in one room though, she needs your second room."

"Why? She can sleep in the cupboard under the stairs with the freak," said Dudley.

"Dudley Dursley, you are not being nice to your sister," said Petunia. "The freak has gone, and you are not to refer to anyone as a freak again."

"Well, she'll have more room in the cupboard then, won't she?" said Dudley. "Daddy says ..."

"Dudley, your father's manners have rubbed off on you and they are disgraceful," said Petunia. "There are freaks who can do magic but not all people who do magic are freaks. Your sister can do magic. She isn't a freak."

The next few days were weird for Harry/Daisy. Dudley got to share the chores and was yelled at by Petunia if she thought he wasn't trying hard enough; and he got to sleep in the fold-out bed Petunia had found in the charity shop, and it was a lot nicer than the thin mattress under the stairs. It was the best time Daisy had ever had.

It was as well, thought Petunia, that neither of them had started school. That would have been most embarrassing and difficult to explain. And really, the old coot should have provided some means of emergency communications. He should have foreseen something like this, and suppose someone who wasn't one of that Lord Thingy's men came sniffing around, as an innocent patsy of the bad guys? And what if Dumbledore had lied, and he was the bad guy pretending to be a harmless headmaster?

It helped that the barometer, which Vernon had never understood, had been smashed and Petunia had thrown it out. It was of sentimental value to nobody but Vernon, and had Petunia but known it, it held charms to enhance animosity and negative feelings. Removing that from the house left Dudley far more stable, and less likely to attack his cousin. He started losing weight as well, not being inclined to comfort eat because of the vague negative ambiance.

And with the insurance money, Petunia went quietly house hunting, hoping to be moved in with a son and daughter before they started school in September. London was too expensive, but she wanted to leave Surrey. Staying in the same county made it too easy to track. She considered moving back to Manchester where she had grown up with Lily, but it was a rough neighbourhood, and moreover she did not know if That Boy still lived there. She did not want to run into Severus Snape. It would be handy to be a short train journey away from London, for the magical world, but off the radar of Albus Dumbledore.

She short-listed houses in Crawley, in Sussex, and Gidea Park, Romford, in Essex. Time to take the children to look them over.

The house in Gidea park was nice, a 1930s semi with oddly-shaped bay windows which curved away from the house and then ran straight, the other side of the curve being completed by the bay of the house next door, a very Art Deco look. The front garden was a reasonable size and the back garden ran a long way back, giving room to be divided into areas for play, a vegetable plot and a region of flowers outside the back French windows. An old mulberry tree grew near the house, and several apple trees towards the other end. Quaintly, there was a toilet under the stairs, sunk several steps down, as well as an upstairs bathroom.

The house in Crawley was not quite as nice, being unremarkable, and a plain, brick semi, though Petunia reflected that being unremarkable was not necessarily a disadvantage. The cost of repairing the curved sections of fancy bay windows would, after all, be considerable. And getting them double glazed would cost a bomb too. It had been the garden as much as the quirky nature which had attracted her there. This house had a smaller garden, though it was near a play park, and fate took a hand when they visited the play-park and saw a small girl the age of the Evans children, since Petunia had reverted to her maiden name, being harried by several other children.

Daisy was off like a streak, and Dudley glanced up at his mother.

"Go help your sister," said Petunia. Lily had been beaten up in the play park more than once; it was one thing the Snape boy had been good for, helping her out. When Lily wasn't doing the same for him. Petunia wished now that she had joined her sister, and she wasn't about to let Dudley make the same mistake.

The woman rushing over towards the other little girl gasped as Daisy took her hand and the bullies flew backward.

Petunia strolled forward.

"Petunia Evans. It looks as though your daughter does accidental magic too," she said.

"I'm sorry, Mummy, they were hurting me," said the other child. "And they put my books in the mud again. I didn't mean to do freaky things."

"Darling, you have to defend yourself," said the woman, putting her arms around the child. "My name is Emma Granger, and what do you mean by 'accidental magic'?"

"I mean what your daughter falsely calls 'freaky things'," said Petunia. "My sister was a witch and so is my ... daughter, Daisy. Dudley hasn't shown any signs of being a wizard; I never learned magic either," she sighed. "And the self-opinionated, smug, self-satisfied magical community won't tell you about it until you are nearly driven to distraction by it when she reaches her eleventh birthday and you get the letter from their school in Scotland, followed by the visit from a patronising old biddy who tells you that you can take up their offer, or have your memories modified, and the magic bound on the talented child, something I understand will kill them young."

Emma Granger gasped.

"You sound quite cynical about it," she said.

"I am," said Petunia. "They also won't tell you that they are fighting a war, and a magical terrorist killed my sister and is targeting my daughter because her mother did a ritual which caused him to be temporarily killed, and no, I don't understand it because they won't give you a straight answer."

The Evans family ended up at the Grangers' nice detatched house for tea, dinner, and staying the night, with Daisy sleeping in with Hermione, and Dudley in the second guest room.

And this is when Petunia decided to trust this nice, normal family with the whole story, including Harry's original status as a boy, which had Dan looking horrified for a moment at a boy sleeping in his little girl's bed until Petunia assured him that the change was total, and that Harry/Daisy was happy to stay that way.

"And my sister was at a disadvantage too, because they won't tell you their customs and how to go on in their world, or that it was only because she married a rich man that enabled her to have any respect in their bigoted society," said Petunia, bitterly.

"But if we don't accept their society, we have our memories wiped," said Dan, flatly.

Petunia nodded.

"And Dumbledore just waltzes in and interferes with lives like ordinary folk were so many pawns," she said. "About the only people I think wizards can't mess with is the goblins, who do the banking."

"So, we need to be in the good with these goblins," said Dan. "Are there any books on them?"

"I don't know," said Petunia. "There's a place in London called Diagon Alley, but you can't get in there without someone magical showing you where it is; it's hidden by magic. I was planning on taking the children there and getting some books, and seeing if Daisy's inheritance is affected, and sending an owl – they send letters by owl – to one of Daisy's father's friends."

"So can one of our magical children see this place?" asked Dan.

"Yes, I think so," said Petunia. "Lily could, when she went to get her kit. And actually, I could see it, I can see a lot of things, but I can't do anything."

"This needs to be done in two parts, then," said Dan. "First, we need a reconnaissance mission, to get books on the society, how to blend into it, so nobody realises our children are new blood until they know them."

"Harder said than done, the purebloods all know each other."

"Crap. Well, we can look at our options. And maybe we can see if there are any books on foreign wizards. How opposed would you be to moving abroad? Emma and I would do anything for our little girl to be happy."

"It wouldn't bother me," said Petunia. "Escaping totally from Dumbeldore and his machinations would suit me fine."

"We're going to have to start explaining to our little girl that not all teachers and grown ups are infallible," said Emma. "She has such a hard time relating to other children, she sees grown ups as the only people she can trust."

"I don't trust anyone easily," said Petunia. "But you're in a similar situation to me, except not at risk yet from the dark lord nobody will name. And Daisy reckons we can bring the blood wards with us."

This necessitated more explanations, and the Grangers frowned.

"So tell me this," said Dan, "These wards protected Harry, as she was, as long as your house was his home. But your husband was extremely averse to magic, and was abusive. So what on earth keeps an abused kid from considering some place as 'home' as soon as they've gone to somewhere else which seems better, like boarding school, or staying with a friend whose parents are accepting?"

"Believe me, Dan, I am of the opinion that Dumbledore thinks he knows best and thinks he knows everything, and if I may use a vulgar expression from where I grew up, he's one as knows everything and knows nowt."

Dan and Emma both nodded.

"We've both met academics with similar belief in themselves," said Dan. "And I've served in the military and I could tell you about some officers who consider themselves to be Sun Tzu, Clauswitz, Julius Caesar and Bismarck all rolled into one, where generally they'd be hard pushed to be Sir Redvers Buller."

"I've heard of Julius Caesar," said Petunia.

"Well, the rest are also famous for their wartime competence, and Buller was a man promoted above his ability," said Dan. "Well, if we have a war, and Daisy has an enemy, I'll instruct our three on tactics, strategy, and logistics. When they are old enough they can join a rifle club. In the meantime, something we were considering for Hermione is a karate club. If they can handle themselves physically, they have an advantage against people who have to draw wands to be able to attack. People who live by the gun, and I wager that wand-users are no different, will tend to assume that they have the weapon and don't bother with things that might save their lives, like unarmed combat."

Petunia nodded.

"Much as I dislike the idea, I fear you're right, Dan. Now we will have to get back to those wretched wards tomorrow, but perhaps we can plan a day in London for that reconnaissance. Let me do the talking, I'll ask for aid to get to the Owl Post to urgently contact a relative in the Wizarding world."

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The midweek excursion to London saw Dan and Petunia and the children entering the Leaky Cauldron. They had decided that looking like a couple with children would attract least attention, and as Petunia knew where she was doing, she was the obvious choice of the two women. None of the children had wanted to be left behind, though Dudley was nervous over going into a place full of people he was learning not to call 'freaks'.

Tom, the barkeeper, was fairly accommodating about a family needing to send news.

"You might do well to get yourselves an owl, so you can contact relatives," he said. "Eyelops Owl Emporium, but you will have to change your muggle money at Gringotts."

"I've been to Gringotts before; thank you," said Petunia. Tom tapped the bricks to allow them out into the alley, and Petunia led them into a different world.

"Gringotts first," said Petunia.

"Wait a moment, let's go into that book shop and see what they have on goblins," said Dan. "We can always ask them to hold books we choose until we have been to get money, and if there are no wizards who read books in bookshops, I'll be much surprised."

"Very well," said Petunia.

The children were attracted to the children's books of course, and Hermione frowned at some brightly coloured histories of Harry Potter.

"How can a little boy do all this?" she asked.

"He didn't," said Daisy, tersely.

"How do you know? Do you know him?" Hermione got excited.

"Cross your heart and hope to die if you tell what I tell you unless I say you may," said Daisy.

Hermione knew how to cross her heart and hope to die. The quick golden glow of magic was a surprise.

"I used to be Harry Potter, but I wanted to be a girl, and it was accidental magic," said Daisy, in a low voice. "Dudley doesn't know. I ... I guess you can tell your parents."

"But they shouldn't write things that aren't true," said Hermione. "I'm going to show Aunt Petunia."

The adults had decided that adopting dutch aunties and an uncle would make life easiest.

Petunia leafed through the books Hermione showed her, and frowned.

"It can't be legal to do this without royalties going to the child whose supposed life is written about," she said. "Something else to take up with the goblins. We will need one each of those ridiculous things."

"Yes, Aunt Petunia," said Hermione.

Dan was scanning through a book on goblins and their customs and etiquette.

"We'll leave learning gobbledegook until later," he decided. "A half-hearted effort will bring us nothing but scorn. The children should learn that too. And from what I'm seeing in spell books, they need Latin and perhaps Greek. I am thinking we need to find more children who have magic, so we can set up our own private school to prepare them properly."

"Can we do that? Isn't it the law for children to go to school?" asked Petunia. Dan gave a feral grin.

"The 1946 education act says that all children between five and sixteen years need to be given an appropriate education at school _or otherwise._ This covers kids who have tutors, and you can opt out of state education and either use a private school, or what they call 'education otherwise' which is essentially home schooling. We had been considering it for Hermione considering how much trouble sending her to nursery school has been, and how many times we've had to replace the windows when she comes home upset and her magic breaks everything in the room. You may have noticed we just don't have knickknacks."

"I wondered if it was a minimalist choice."

"No, it's self-preservation. Hermione has a strong will and a lot of anger. All our ornaments are packed away in tissue paper because she gets upset when she breaks things."

"We've had that happen too," said Petunia. "Vernon wouldn't let Harry into the parlour."

They made their way up the alley, Dudley hardly able to keep his eyes of moving pictures of quidditch players.

"I want to do that," he whispered.

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The goblin teller looked down his nose at the obvious muggles.

"I need to talk to someone about the Potter estate, and let's not waste your gold and mine with smalltalk about it," snarled Dan.

The teller looked startled.

"Come this way," he said, leading the group into a private room. Shortly, another goblin appeared.

"My name's Griphook; I have authorisation to deal with queries about the Potter estate," said Griphook.

Dan nodded his head.

"Then if you can help me, I shall wish your gold great growth and your enemies permanent withering," he said.

"You are knowledgeable. And yet you are a muggle," said Griphook.

"I want to do business with you, and I believe in courtesy in the realm of another, and the following of their customs," said Dan. "And I'd rather be courteous to goblins, for I've reasons not to fully trust wizards."

"Well now!" said Griphook. "Maybe we can do good business. What can I do for you?"

"Before I waste your time, will it render the Potter estate inoperable if Harry James Potter has, with accidental magic become Daisy Harriet Jamie Potter Evans?" asked Dan.

Griphook glanced at the little girls.

"I'll need a heritance test," he said. "I took the liberty of bringing the ancestry determination equipment for the purpose, since none of you look like Harry Potter. Though the little miss looks like Lady Lily Potter."

"James was a lord?" Petunia blurted out.

Griphook grinned a nasty grin.

"It's not used most of the time, but yes," he said.

"What do I have to do, Mr. Griphook?" asked Daisy.

"Just let me prick your finger, Miss Evans, and let it drip onto this parchment," said Griphook. Daisy did not even squeak, and watched the blood as it dripped, and the words forming.

"Magic has accepted your change of name," Griphook pointed. "But it shows you are the only child of James and Lily Potter, and that you are the only living descendent of the Peverells. The outer line merely lists what magical houses you have in your bloodline, and as the descendent of a pure bred wizard, that is going to be most of them. You are eligible to access your trust vault when you have your key."

"How do I get that, sir?" asked Daisy.

"Your magical guardian holds it until you are eleven," said Griphook.

"Mr. Griphook, I imagine that will be Dumbledore whom I neither like nor trust," said Petunia. "He does not know of Daisy's change of sex, or at least he never turned up to bind her magic like he did with the first extreme bout of accidental magic."

"He bound Mr. Potter's magic? That's not legal," said Griphook.

"I'm not sure if a lot of what this Dumbledork has done is legal, Master-accountant," said Dan, who had a good eye for uniform and had read how the goblins marked their garb. "I can't think that leaving a child on a doorstep in the small hours in November is legal, nor expecting people to put up with being warded in a way that they cannot move home if they want without their permission let alone having a child dumped on them without permission."

Griphook's ears went up.

"Sir, I believe you may want to have an appointment with Ragnok, who loathes Dumbledore," he said. "He is the Director. And Miss Evans must go to St Mungos to have her magic unbound, and the children will need inoculations against magical diseases. They are given as potions, not the needles of the muggle world. I am sure we can negotiate to issue another key, and handle Miss Evans' accounts for her."

Dan nodded.

"Thank you. How nice not to need needles! And please, call me Dan; I think we are in for a long and fruitful friendship in the mutual destruction of our foes. And will you accept muggle money to pay for a heritance test for my own daughter?"

"We accept any money," said Griphook. "Any money is good money, and can be invested in the appropriate world."

"Then I'll open an account with you, if I may, for my family, so I can draw your money to spend on books," said Dan.

"Certainly. Permit me to acquire another heritance pack," said Griphook.

"A moment; did Lily and James leave wills, please?" asked Petunia.

"They did; and Albus Dumbldore, in his capacity as leader of the wizgamot had them sealed," said Griphook.

"So any friends of theirs might be deprived of bequests too?" asked Petunia.

"Indeed, Miss Evans. And who knows what secrets are hidden," said Griphook.

"Do you happen to know what secrets are hidden?" asked Petunia, shrewdly.

"Why, I could not disclose that," said Griphook. "But I think you'll find a copy of the will in the Potter vault, and the Potter heir is quite entitled to remove books and documents from the main vault, just not money."

"And what books and documents would you advise Daisy to remove?" asked Petunia.

Griphook gave an approving grin. Petunia made a mental note to never irritate goblins; genial ones were scary enough.

"I would advise the family grimoire and the diaries and journals of Miss Evans' immediate family," he said. "Also the copy of the will, a certain map, and the ring of heir, which Miss Evans may wear until she is of age at seventeen, or emancipated, which will give certain protections against such things as legilimensy and mind-control spells and potions."

"Good God," said Petunia. "Leg .. what?"

"Legilimensy. You might call it mind reading," said Griphook.

"I would think that ring would be a good idea," said Petunia.

"I'll dispatch a runner with that list, whilst I test Miss Granger," said Griphook. "The account will be billed for our consultation of course."

Hermione was bursting with questions, but her father had forbidden her to even speak to a goblin unless spoken to. She was jigging up and down with excitement.

The test was performed, and Griphook grinned.

"Ah, Miss Granger, last heir to the Dagworth-Granger account," he said. "A descendent of squibs; those born to a magical family without magic. A familial connection fairly close to the line Prince, as well. And since Eileen Prince was disowned, I believe that makes you heir apparent, which should stand you in good stead at Hogwarts, where Severus Snape is your cousin and would probably do a lot to be re-adopted back into the Prince line. Nobody bothers to actually disown Squibs, so the line is recognised."

"Severus Snape? He was a friend of my sister's," said Petunia.

"Indeed? I understand he doesn't make friends," said Griphook. "Well, well, you may have blackmail material with your sister's journals as well as a key to something he desperately wants. Use it well."

"We will never misuse a weapon given to us by an ally," said Dan.

"I like you, Mr. Granger," said Griphook. "You know how to talk to goblins and you have a cunning I admire."

"Thank you," said Dan. "Oh, one last thing. The last matter; Dumbledore set up blood wards at Petunia's house, to protect Harry Potter, and said they could not move. Daisy thinks they could be moved."

Griphook frowned in thought.

"If it's the blood of the relative protecting, there is no reason why they should not be moved. Alternatively a greater protection could be the absorption of Lily Potter's protection to try to awaken magic in her sister, if Miss Daisy Evans is willing to use her own blood too."

"Oh yes! And can Dudley?" asked Daisy. "He's my cousin."

Griphook considered.

"I don't see why not. Even as Miss Granger might be able to open some magic in her parents with a magical adoption. I'd like Daisy to go to St Mungo's first, though; and I will see about having the blood wards moved for you."

"Can I leave details of the property to which we are moving, and ask you to see to the conveyancing as well?" asked Petunia. "That way, Dumbledore is less likely to find where we have gone."

"Certainly. Will the heir also authorise calling the Potter elves to organise the move?"

"Elves?" asked Daisy.

"Oh yes, the Potter family has several elves. They will need to bond to you," said Griphook.

"Isn't that slavery?" demanded Hermione.

"Not at all, Miss Granger," said Griphook. "Without wizarding magic, elves die. Some wizards treat them as slaves, however, which is wrong, but good wizards treat them as lesser members of the family. Lady Lily Potter was very particular. Miss Evans, you must call the Potter head elf, touching your ring as you do, which will be with you shortly."

Indeed, at that moment a goblin came in with a couple of small boxes. Griphook rolled his eyes and snarled something in gobbledigook. The goblin darted off, and returned with two wands.

"These are dedicated wands," said Griphook. "This one will enlarge and reduce packages magically; the other will permit you access to places like Diagon Alley. Put on the ring, Miss Evans." He opened one box which held a ring. Daisy cautiously lifted it out, and as directed slid it on the forefinger of her right hand. It shrank to her size.

"Will it grow with her?" asked Petunia.

"Yes, always," said Griphook. "Now tap it and call for the Potter head elf."

Daisy did so, and a liveried elf appeared, to the startlement of all but Griphook.

"Where is Master Harry?" demanded the elf.

"I didn't like being Harry so I became Daisy," said Daisy. The elf peered.

"You looks like Mistress Lily," he said.

"I wanted to," said Daisy. "I need to meet everyone to ... to bond?"

Four other elves appeared, and with instructions from Denny, the head elf, Daisy bonded with each. They looked very relieved.

"Our magics were slipping, Master ... Miss Daisy," said Denny. "Why has you not come home to Potter Manor to bond with us?"

"There's a Potter Manor?" asked Petunia.

"Is it Mistress Daisy's wish that I answer and obey this one?" asked Denny.

"Oh, yes," said Daisy. "We didn't know we were allowed to live anywhere else."

"Please come with us to our old home ready to move to our new," said Petunia. "Dear me, it hasn't got enough rooms for you all."

"We will find room for ourselves," said Denny, firmly.

"Can they have access to the trust fund?" asked Petunia.

"Yes, if you give it," said Griphook.

"Good; they will find it easier to buy things like wizarding clothes for us so we don't stand out, and books if we find we need one," said Petunia. "If they can pop from anywhere to anywhere like that."

"Elves is good at fetching and carrying," said Denny.

"Can you take passengers?" asked Dan.

"Oh yes, if Miss Daisy says we may."

"Please consider the Grangers to be my family," said Daisy.

"Then perhaps we should go home, and ask you to get the books we put aside in Flourish and Blotts, and take Petunia and Daisy to St Mungo's," said Dan. He was taking the wizarding world in his stride.

"No problem!" said Denny.

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The healer in St Mungo's was horrified that a child's magic should be bound, but ascertained that Daisy had no lasting damage, and had managed to undo a lot of the binding herself. With potions to protect against spattergroit and dragonpox, Denny popped the tired pair back to the Grangers' house to collect Dudley, and then to Privet Drive. Here they proceeded to clean what Petunia had thought she had already cleaned, and produced a chicken supper better than anything Petunia could ever remember eating.

"Always treat your elves well, Daisy," she said. "Elves are wonderful."

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The goblins warded the new house, and the elves carried the stones to the right spots around the property to as not to disrupt the pattern, having already moved the furniture. Petunia drove Dudley and Daisy to their new house, and they settled in. Griphook put Dan in touch with a child of squib parents, who had qualified as a school teacher in the muggle world, and Mafalda Prewett moved in with the Evans family and ran a school for three children which included the customs of the wizarding world and potioneering techniques as well as the usual range of subjects available to muggles. Their physical fitness training was taken on by Dan. A couple of other children of squibs joined them, from the Hitchens family, and a wizarding child who had been bitten by a werewolf. She was a thin, ill child, whose parents were grateful to find people who would accept her despite her affliction.

"When I grow up, Lucy, I'm going to find a cure for werewolves," promised Hermione.

It was a year round before Griphook thought it safe to try a ritual with the ward stones. Dan had met with Ragnok several times, and Ragnok was investigating ways of removing Dumbledore as a trustee of Daisy's vault before she turned eleven.

"Please, Mr. Griphook, if I'm adopting Aunt Petunia and Dudley using blood, can I adopt Uncle Dan and Aunt Emma, if Hermione helps? So we're all family?" asked Daisy. She was still Daisy and had no desire to be Harry.

"I ... I don't know," said Griphook. "It ... yes, it should work. Dan is a member of the Dagworth-Granger family, and technically a squib by descent. It may not work with Emma."

"I'd like to try," said Daisy. "I wish I could adopt you as my uncle, too."

Griphook gasped.

"Would you like me as an uncle?" he asked, seriously. "It will give you some goblin magic, and would make me a member of your family line."

"Oh yes!" said Daisy. "I love you, Uncle Griphook."

It was an odd ceremony. Griphook had spoken seriously to Ragnok, who had given him permission to become a member of the Potter family. Never before in the history of goblin kind had a human voluntarily offered to be a family member of a goblin. That meant that Griphook's new nieces and nephew could be taught goblin fighting techniques and warding skills without it being a breach of the treaty; and arguably, Griphook might consider applying to carry a wand when Daisy had defeated Voldemort. The goblins had a fair idea what the dark lord had done, and with a bit of research had discovered that if it had been a horcrux in Harry Potter, it had died in Vernon Dursley. They did not bother to mention this research to their human allies; it would only have upset them.

And the ceremony drained the blood wards into Petunia and Dudley before a full blood-adoption ceremony by potion and blood sharing, and drained and weak, those participating were glad to be fed pumpkin juice and iced biscuits by the elves. Emma was scarcely more able than a squib, but Dan and Petunia both found themselves quite able with magic, and Dudley managed his first accidental magic in summoning the biscuits he could not be bothered to get up to reach for.

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Albus Dumbledore was away for the weekend, as he often was, and when he came into his office on the Monday morning, he was horrified to see that the wards at 4, Privet Drive had fallen.

He had no idea that the wards had not been at Privet Drive for something more than a year.

He apparated there immediately, but could see nothing untoward. There was no car in the drive, and when he knocked, nobody answered. This was because Mr. Frank Jones and Mr. Peter Belson, who now owned the place, were both at work. Albus broke into the house with magic, unaware that he had tripped several muggle burglar alarms, as the young gay couple who owned the house had a number of valuable antiques, this being their line of business, and he was most surprised when a wail of sirens heralded the arrival of the old bill. Albus was most concerned, there was only one family photograph showing two young men, and photos of Petunia and young Harry were conspicuous by their absence. When it became apparent that the police were about to enter, he apparated away, unaware that in a very short time, his fingerprints would be on record as a thief.

Albus had heard of house swaps for holidays, and wondered if this was what had happened; after all, the wards had not changed at all, so Petunia and her whale could not have moved with the boys.

He went back to Hogwarts, and hastened to the book which recorded those born in 1980. There was no Harry Potter. A few names he did not recognise, obviously a larger number of muggleborn than usual, but maybe Dudley and Daisy Evans were distantly related to Lily Evans. A Dagworth-Granger at long last! That was exciting, but the name Harry James Potter had disappeared. Albus felt a wave of sadness overtake him. The boy was dead. An accident on holiday, perhaps; and he might never find out. Though perhaps the young men who were staying at 4 Privet Drive might know more. He would go back this evening and ask them.

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The young men in Privet Drive were not happy to see some oddly dressed old geezer. They assumed Dumbledore was some kind of user who wanted to blackmail them for their love, and told him to leave in no uncertain manner. Albus, however, managed to legilimens them first, and discovered that they had bought the house a year ago. He found out that they had moved from Brighton, and decided that Petunia must have moved there in a house swap in order to keep the wards up.

He was arrested for accosting a young boy with messy black hair on the sea front, and his fingerprints, when taken, were shown to be those of a known sneak thief. Albus knew better than to try to obliviate too many muggles at once, and learned whilst in custody that any policeman in the country had access to his fingerprints through something called computer files. This was a frightening development, and the sooner Tom could be got out of the way, and muggles properly controlled, the better it would be. He waited until he was alone in his cell to apparate away, having unlocked the door with _alohamora_ to make the muggles think they had left it unlocked. Muggles were stupid enough to forget to lock doors, after all.

He barely made it out before the sergeant arrived, alerted by the electronic alarm on the door. Albus Dumbledore's picture would be in every daily by the morning as a fugitive sneak thief and suspected pervert.

It may be said that the Dagworth-Grangers and Evans families found this highly amusing.

 **Next up, the school years**


	2. Chapter 2

_On due consideration I have broken year 1 into 2 chapters; this story will be 6 chapters long now  
_

 **1991, September 1** **st** **.**

"It's so unfair that Lucy can't come with us," said Hermione, as they got to King's Cross.

"At least she can study at our home using the same textbooks as us, as Uncle Griphook warded the house so magic can be done, and she can floo in, and Miss Prewett will continue to teach her and the Hitchens boys," said Dudley. "And they can get OWLs in non-practical subjects or ones that don't need a lot of magic, like Herbology. Gosh, I'm glad I can do magic, it must be awful knowing about it and not being able to do it."

"That's what Mum had to live with, I guess," said Daisy, who had begun calling Petunia 'Mum' shortly after the bloodbond ceremony. "I wish Mum would hurry up and make Griphook our dad, you know, goblins treat their women with respect."

Dudley had received a few clouts from Griphook over his early tone towards women, and nodded.

"He'd make a good sort of dad," he said. None of the trio even noticed differences between goblins and humans any more.

They avoided the large and loud tribe of redheads whose sobbing daughter seemed to be unwilling to accept that Harry Potter could possibly be dead as all the stories about him showed how he survived amazing odds. The books had been classed firmly as fiction, now, and a large penalty clause paid, and a third of all royalties for future publications, as well as a disclaimer in big letters on the inside that these were fictional adventures that Harry Potter might have enjoyed. The monies made sure that they were well equipped and beautifully robed, and had all the extras for potions class, normally only recommended to families traditional to Slytherin.

It had taken much soul-searching to send the children to Hogwarts. Durmstrang taught Dark Arts, and Beauxbatons, which they had visited, put style over substance, in Dan's opinion. The children were fluent in French and German, as well as Latin, and Hermione had managed to cover the third and fourth year syllabus of Ancient Runes as well as learning Ancient Greek. Daisy and Dudley had learned some Ancient Runes, and a smattering of Ancient Greek, to help with spell crafting, and warding. The runecraft of all of them included goblin runes which very few people ever learned, and their trunks were what Dan described as weapons of mass disruption. Anyone trying to rummage through them would be in for a lot of unpleasant, if non-fatal, surprises. Being turned green with the word 'thief' emblazoned on the forehead was one of the more immediate surprises.

The children were looking forward to learning as much as possible, whilst being sceptical about the motives of their preceptors. They had been well drilled by Mafalda in basic politics and in the politics of the wizarding world, and her parents acted as the family accountants in the muggle world. Hermione had been accepted by the Prince heir ring, but both she and Daisy hid their rings with the inbuilt magic. Griphook had crafted an amulet for Dudley which mimicked the protective effects of the rings, protecting him from mind-altering or reading magic and some poisons. They were fairly certain that they should be safe from the headmaster's machinations if he ever worked out who Daisy really was. It was not too likely since Daisy had no scar, but Albus Dumbledore was a brilliant man, even if not as brilliant as he would like to think.

It had been very amusing pretending to be shocked and thrilled when Minerva McGonagall had turned up at the Evans household, explaining about magic, and Petunia had demanded proofs. Minerva had not visited the Granger household, as Hermione was logged at the ministry and in the school book as a pureblood. Considering the fact that without goblin help she would have been considered a muggleborn, and shunned by many, the trio found this highly amusing. It was the Evans family who might be shunned, but Petunia had claimed the children were twins, and declared them the result of an _affaire_. It had been a family decision, since the Potter heritage would come out anyway, that she should claim that the father was called James, the husband of her cousin, and he had got her drunk. Petunia had no very great opinion of James Potter, and had no qualms about sullying his name. If Minerva and Albus added two and two together and got twenty-two, it would mean there would be less fuss when Daisy claimed the title, even if it meant that Albus tried to interfere in the mean time. Age-reducing potions, carefully calculated, had been taken by Dudley, who, Petunia claimed, was born after midnight on August 1st, thereby ensuring he wasn't the child of prophecy. He wasn't as magically strong as Daisy, even with the adoption, and would be more at risk if targeted. Naturally, Daisy had been taken by Griphook to hear the prophecy, which the whole family declared as so much baloney, and might well refer to someone with a different calendar. It didn't help that July 31st was the death of the 7th moon as well as the last of the 7th month, but sometimes things were just coincidence. It was likely that Dumbledore would at least scrutinise Daisy, if he figured she was as eligible as Neville Longbottom, but there was no trace of the old scar, so hopefully he would not try to manipulate her.

The red-haired boy who was starting this year poked his head round the door, and backed off from two girls. His older brothers, who appeared to be twins, came in next.

"Oo look, Gred, ickle firsties."

"You're right, Forge, ickle firsties, just waiting to be pranked, urk!"

Daisy had a goblin knife at his throat.

"Don't even think about bullying us," she said. "We won't take it lying down."

"No offence meant," said Forge, holding up his hands.

"Don't offend again." Daisy's knife disappeared.

As the twins withdrew, she got out the second map which had been in the vault. The first showed Hogwarts; the second showed everyone on the train.

"So that's the Weasley twins," said Dudley. "We don't want to be friendly with them, their family treated Miss Prewett's family very badly."

"I think we should keep an open mind," said Hermione. "You can't tell what people are like by their family, after all, Aunt Pet says that your dad was a nasty piece of work."

"I guess," said Dudley. "I say let's be careful."

"That we can all agree on," said Daisy. "I didn't like their manners at all; very loud and raucus, especially their foghorn of a mother. But they may not all be as bad as that."

The carriage door opened again to reveal a slight, blond boy with a pointed chin, with two heavyset boys behind him.

"Heir Malfoy," said Daisy, correctly, holding out her hand. Draco was taken aback enough to kiss it. Dudley rose and inclined his head, and Hermione held out her hand.

"I don't know any of you," whined Draco. "What families do you belong to?"

"Dagworth-Granger, and you haven't greeted me," said Hermione. Draco's eyes widened, and he hastened to kiss her hand.

"According to Gringotts, my twin and I are halfblood of the line Peverelll," said Daisy. "We carry other bloodlines, of course, like Prince, and Black, Potter and Dagworth-Granger like our cousin. She is heir to the line of Prince, too."

Griphook had coached them to let this slip to the Malfoy boy if possible, who was the godson of Severus Snape, and could be relied on to pass that back. The Potter slid in there without hardly being noticed.

"Heir Prince," Malfoy bowed more deeply. "You have not attended children's parties for the pure blooded?"

"No, my parents preferred me to grow up without forming preconceived ideas," said Hermione. "Are you going to introduce us to your companions?"

Malfoy had not intended to bother, but it was a serious breach of etiquette and he proceeded to introduce Crabbe and Goyle, who muttered all that was appropriate. They might have looked as though their unfortunate mothers had dallied with a troll, but their training was impeccable, if pushed in the right direction. Malfoy's father was a potential problem, but if they could be on speaking terms with Draco, it would delay any potential conflict. It helped that three of the Potter elves would be at Hogwarts, claiming that if the little master was not coming to Potter Manor, they needed their magic intact. They were also spying on the headmaster. Two elves were more than enough to help Petunia in the Crawley house, and to go to the Grangers if they needed extra help.

Dan Granger was busy studying wizarding subjects to take external examinations in order to work towards qualifying as a healer in the Wizarding World as well as his doctorate in dental studies; Emma was keeping the practice going, and using surreptitious healing to help patients who needed a bit more. None of them had wands from Ollivanders, so there was no ministry trace on any of them. Obliviators had turned up once, and Emma had asked what the hell business of the ministry it was to obliviate witches and wizards. Dan had the ring of the head of the house of Dagworth-Granger, and Emma had displayed the ring of the Dagworth-Granger bride, and the obliviators had retired with egg on their faces and confusion in their hearts.

Petunia was also studying, and planned to make herself an expert on wards and warding so she could tell Albus manynames Dumbledore where to get off. She was also teaching herself how to make wands. Second wands which were not registered anywhere would not come amiss, even if they were not as good as the primary wands. In robes, and with the right etiquette, the Grangers and Petunia were able to blend in with other members of the wizarding world without getting sour looks and a refusal to serve them, or at best a raise in prices, which seemed to happen to those in muggle garb. It made buying supplies for potions, and for wand and ward making much easier. Now that Petunia knew to look out for bowtruckles to indicate magical trees, she was harvesting her own wand woods in old parks and woodlands, and had been able to do some bartering with the same. Now that she had magic at her disposal, Petunia had embraced it wholeheartedly. Lucy, the young werewolf, was learning wand crafting with her, because providing cheap wands would be a profession she could pursue self-employed, without being hounded out of a job for her furry little problem, and illicit wands would always be in demand, even if the poor child had to live on the edges of society. The journals of James Potter revealed that he and his friends had befriended a werewolf, and Gringotts were attempting to trace Remus Lupin. However, he appeared to have made himself scarce. Petunia was of the opinion that if he couldn't be bothered to check on his best friend's only son, she wasn't going to go a long way to find so poor a friend. Peter Pettigrew was apparently dead, killed by the fourth friend, Sirius Black. Fine friends! As shallow as James himself. Maybe Lily should have kept to Severus Snape, even if he did creep Petunia out when they were children. If Petunia was honest with herself, the way she had dressed Harry led to him looking rather like the Snape boy. Much would depend on how the man interacted with the children when they got to school.

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The plump, nervous looking boy hesitantly entered the train carriage.

"Have you seen my toad?" he asked. "He wandered off."

"Oh honestly, why not just summon him?" said Hermione. The boy goggled.

"I don't know how," he said.

"Heir Longbottom, I know the device on your robes, haven't you been taught how to do a simple summoning spell? It's the first accidental magic most kids do," said Hermione.

The boy flushed.

"I'm afraid I'm practically a squib," he said. "My first accidental magic was to bounce when Uncle Algie dropped me out of a window to force me to do magic."

They all stared at him.

"I hope your parents reported him to the DMLE," said Daisy, indignantly.

"I ... my parents are in St Mungo's long stay ward," said Neville. "My Gran tore him another one, though."

"So I should hope," said Hermione. "I'm sorry I assumed. Do you have a custom wand to get the best out of your magic?"

"No, I have my father's wand, Gran wants me to live up to him."

"Oh, that's ridiculous. The wand chooses the wizard; and a custom wand maker has each part of the wand choose the wizard. Aunt Petunia will make you a wand," said Hermione. "My mother is close to being a squib, but her custom wand makes all the difference, and she's a brilliant potioneer. What's your toad's name?"

"Trevor," said Neville.

"Accio Trevor!" said Hermione, and held out her hands for the arrival of a very surprised toad. She passed it over to Neville.

"Oh, thank you!" said Neville. "I do beg your pardon, I didn't go through the niceties.

"That's all right, you were worried about your pet," said Hermione, introducing herself and the others. "Would you like to join us? You're the nicest one we've met so far."

"I'd like that. I'm Neville, by the way," said Neville. "My mum was good at potions, and I ... I'd like to be, but I know the potions master is scary."

"Oh, that's easy to deal with," said Hermione. "My dad says that when faced by scary people, you just imagine them in their underwear, and it makes them less scary."

Daisy giggled.

"I'm not sure that McGonagall in underwear wouldn't be more scary," she said. "It's like the books tell you about dealing with a boggart, by making it ridiculous."

"I say, you lot have studied lots more at home than I've been allowed to," said Neville. "Except herbology, which I've studied on my own time and I have my own greenhouse. The family owns the primary potions ingredient quality greenhouses in Britain."

"Well, why don't we catch you up with some potion techniques, and you can catch us up with herbology?" said Hermione. "My mum grows some herbs for potions, but she never went to Hogwarts so we're a bit behind with that. She is a keen gardener generally, though, and things have been much better since the elves have been able to deliver as much dragon's dung as we need."

It never occurred to Neville that the children he was sitting with had all been reared as muggles for their first few years. Petunia and the Grangers had been ruthlessly efficient in bringing all three children up to speed with what wizarding children should know. Having three willing students, Dudley desperate to play quidditch and so willing to put in the work on other subjects to be able to do so, the children were actually somewhat better educated than most pureblood children, who took magic for granted, and did not strive to learn all they could about it. Had Dan known this, he would have sniffed, and mentioned that all muggles used electrical switches and could change batteries in a remote, and would not be able to handle designing and soldering an electronic circuit board for the TV to save their lives, never mind programming a computer.

It should not be surprising that Hermione was quite capable of programming in C on the Granger home computer. She had written a program for Petunia to help her link capabilities and aspirations to wand wood and core abilities, as well as one to cross-reference different runes. Hermione was going to miss her computer, and had bound pages of print-outs for runic work in lieu, with colour-coded inserts.

Neville pored over the books on potioneering techniques.

"Why aren't these on the reading list?" he asked.

"They are, if you cite Professor Snape's name in Jigger and Slug's," said Daisy, dryly. "I think all the Snakes use them."

"That's not fair," said Neville.

"All we've heard is that he isn't fair," said Hermione. "I want to judge for myself. I've also heard that everyone condemns House Slytherin for being automatically evil, and to be honest, I am concerned that his so-called unfairness might just be an attempt to level the playing-field, and give an advantage to a house namely for producing Voldemort, but not being the only one to produce Death Eaters. What? It's only a name. I'm not going to be childish enough not to say a name just because some grown-ups get their knickers in a twist over a silly pseudonym which is French for 'flies from death'. It's a very silly name if you ask me, and shows Voldemort to be a coward."

Neville had flinched.

"Well, I ... I suppose when you put it like that ..." he said.

Daisy and Dudley grinned at each other. Neville had a Case for Hermione.

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"Firs' years over here, with me, I'm Hagrid," The huge man boomed. Dudley and Daisy stared at the carriages the older ones were going in.

"What are those odd sort of flying horses, they're so skinny! Are they being mistreated?" demanded Daisy.

"I dunno, but all the horses in books have feathered wings, not dragon-like wings," said Dudley.

"You're joshing me, right? There's nothing there," said Hermione.

The big man came over.

"Oh, dear, you can see thestrals so young? That's not nice for you. Miss, those who can see thestrals have seen death."

"Aren't they bad luck?" Malfoy said, nervously.

"Oh, no, that's an old wives' tale," said Hagrid. "they're very smart an' train real well, it's just that if you can see them, you've had bad luck."

"Not really," said Daisy. "Our stepfather wasn't very nice. We don't miss him."

Even Dudley had come to almost believe, by careful training, that Vernon had been his stepfather. The blood adoption made him Daisy's brother by blood, and with his hair darkening to strawberry blond, in the same messy style that had once characterised Daisy, it was easy to think of himself as James' son with the family photographs.

The brief sticking point had been in explaining to Lily and James, when they had visited Potter Manor, that their Harry wanted to be Daisy and that she wanted a brother.

Once they had explained that it was to prank Dumbledore and Voldemort, James' portrait had laughed, and withdrew objections. Lily was just relieved that Petunia was treating her baby well, and furious with Dumbledore at having sealed the will and ignored all their wishes.

One reason for having visited Potter Manor was to key the wards to Daisy, and to specifically exclude Dumbledore from them. Petunia, with Lily's painting's enthusiastic instructions, had keyed the wards to let Remus Lupin in, but not out, and to alert the elves to find him. Lily had been tickled pink that her sister was seriously studying runes. There had been a long moment where the 'what ifs' passed through both their minds.

Hagrid hurried the children away from the thestrals, and onto the boats. The trio took Neville with them, and Dudley said,

"Hey, old man, you've got my trouble, finding it too easy to put on weight, you should work out with us in the mornings."

"I should?" asked Neville.

"Oh, yes," said Dudley. "I used to be really fat for a while, but Uncle Dan soon sorted me out. We run and practice combat skills."

"Why would you do that?" asked Neville.

"Well, all the Death Eaters aren't dead, are they?" said Dudley. "And only Voldemort's body died, there's a prophecy which says he found a way to keep his spirit alive, and that has to be something to worry about."

"I know there's a prophecy; Professor Dumbledore wanted me to fulfil it but Gran told him to go fish up a tree," said Neville.

"Good for your Gran," said Hermione. "I think I like her already."

"Hehe, his gran sounds one forceful lady, you reckon that's why he likes Mione?" whispered Daisy to Dudley. Dudley chortled.

The view of the castle from the boats was spectacular enough to be worth being in tippy little cockleshells – Dudley's description – with no health and safety considerations at all. Hermione was drawing up a chart in her head whereby the deficiencies of such travel, and ways to fix it without diminishing the experience, might be presented to the school board.

A bit of lighting and rough granite paving slabs for better grip would go a long way to making getting into the boats safer, and perhaps larger boats.

Inside, they were met by McGonagall, and Hermione smirked to herself at the idea of trying to picture the austere witch in her underwear. She got as far as tartan teddy and fishnet stockings woven in a tartan fashion and had to give up to avoid giggling.

Dagworth-Granger went ahead of Evans to the sorting hat. Hermione was to put forward the strategy the group had discussed.

" _I know I'm smart enough for Ravenclaw, brave enough for Gryffindor, loyal enough for Hufflepuff and cunning enough for Slytherin, as are my cousins_ ," she thought at it, " _But where would we do the most good by taking the qualities we've striven for? We have to replace Harry Potter, without being manipulated by Bumblefrump, so are we best being underestimated in Hufflepuff, working our socks off in Ravenclaw, looking like heroes in Gryffindor or working behind the scenes to improve the image of Slytherin? And for goodness sake, haven't you ever considered sorting tactically to split toxic relationships like Malfoy and his goons?"_

" _Well, you're a conundrum! Yes, you could fit any of the houses, and I am obliged to take some personal desires into account. Well, a bit of change is good for the school so better be ..._ Slytherin!"

Hermione strolled across to the Slytherin table with all the grace given to her by the dance classes inflicted on the trio to help their pose as purebloods. The older ones clapped politely and Crabbe goggled at her.

Of the Evans 'twins', Daisy was the first to come forward, and saw a tall, black-haired member of staff crash to his feet and then faint.

Well, that must be Professor Severus Snape, and Mummy Lily's friendship with him must have been deeper than was apparent in her diaries. Or his feelings for her were deeper. Daisy enjoyed her own chat with the hat, which seemed most amused at her change from her former self. Daisy was rapidly dispatched to Slytherin, where Hermione embraced her.

Dudley followed swiftly, grinning all over his face that the hat had accepted him, that it counted him a real wizard. Dudley had always been just a little bit afraid of being rejected, in case the blood adoption and ward draining didn't count, somehow. He had never spoken of this fear to anyone, and now his whole world was perfect. He gave Daisy a high five, and hugged Hermione.

Daphne Greengrasse was next into Slytherin.

"Heir Dagworth-Granger, I see Heir Prince as well on your robes, congratulations, your line was thought lost," said she, as she sat beside a beaming Tracey Davis.

"Heir Greengrasse, yes, my father took the inheritance test fairly recently, based on family research," said Hermione. "He has preferred to hold himself aloof from politics until he can make an informed decision."

"I will write to my father; we are a neutral house, and perhaps your father might wish to consider a loose alliance with us while he considers his options. My father would willingly give him as much knowledge as he needs to help him make informed decisions."

"Thank you; that would be helpful. Perhaps we might make a loose alliance in school? You have a friend, I see, my cousins and I are very close, and we are also friendly with Heir Longbottom whom we met on the train."

"The Longbottoms are a light family, but the Greengrasses have often worked with them," said Daphne. "A study group to involve him perhaps? He's likely to be Gryffindor. Oh my! Gregory Goyle into Hufflepuff? That's a surprise."

"He struck me as a loyal friend," said Hermione.

"Like a barnacle," said Daphne, dryly. "Stuck on the underside of any Malfoy and impossible to scrape off. Crabbe the same."

"Oh well, maybe Goyle will be able to have a bid for independence in Hufflepuff," said Hermione. "I wasn't greatly impressed by Malfoy, but he did find some manners eventually, I think he has to use a spade to dig for them though."

Daphne smiled.

"Malfoy thinks he is great because his father is rich and he has the ear of the Minister."

Daisy thought it time to put in her two knuts worth. She shrugged.

"Ministers change, and as a family block, without wishing to be vulgar enough to discuss money, I suspect we could collectively buy Malfoy."

At least, she thought, when I'm of age. The Dagworth-Granger vaults had been comfortingly well stocked, and Griphook was busy investing in muggle companies as well as wizarding interests, with a nice little block of shares each in Apple and Microsoft.

Neville, unsurprisingly, went into Gryffindor, and not long after, Malfoy came to the Slytherin table, nodding at the Granger-Evans group and at Daphne.

Dudley noticed a rather blocky girl with dark hair looking wistfully at their laughter and chat.

"Would you like to join a study group with us?" he asked.

She brightened.

"I'd like that," she said, in a deep little voice. "I'm Millicent Bulstrode."

"Cool, nice to meet you, Millie," said Dudley.

To the relief of the trio, the Weasley boy went into Gryffindor where his bullies of brothers were already sorted. The last boy of all, a handsome black lad called Blaise Zabini came into Slytherin, and nodded to other purebloods. Seeing Daphne on good terms with the trio, he included them in the nod.

It was over.

And then the Headmaster made a banal speech about certain death on the third floor and concluded with a few words chosen at random.

"Sounds like Uncle Dan winding up his golf buddies," muttered Dudley. "But only after he's sunk a couple of pints of cider."

"Maybe the headmaster hits the firewhiskey," said Daisy, brightly.

The rest of the Slytherin newcomers and any older ones in earshot laughed at this. Snape, recovered from his faint, looked over at the table, and the trio beamed at him.

He looked away, rapidly.

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Severus Snape got himself firmly under control, exerting every ounce of occlumensy to face the ghost of Lily Evans. Daisy Evans, the girl was called, and her twin looked like the result of an unholy union between James Potter and a Weasley. No, he looked like one might expect Harry Potter to look, if the boy wasn't known to be dark haired like James, with Lily's face and red hair. Who were the Evanses? Severus stalked into the Slytherin common room with his robes billowing. There were the usual whispered queries about how he did that, which pleased his ego, but he froze in wonder to hear the whisper,

"Runes embroidered into the hem to invoke elemental wind, I should have thought."

The whisper came from the bushy-haired girl with the Dagworth-Granger crest discretely on her shoulder over the Prince crest. Severus Snape froze. He thought he was the last Prince, and the line likely to end now the last of his mother's relatives having died. And he, from a disowned line, unable to claim the title of Lord Prince.

It would be nice to be reinstated into the family; and if this girl knew runes, the line might not be dishonoured after all. It would be through his squib of an uncle, no doubt. Well, great uncle, but near enough.

He cleared his throat, and spoke in his softly carrying voice.

"Welcome to Slytherin House, and welcome back to those of you returning. Slytherin House is not trusted by the other three houses, so we do not travel the halls of Hogwarts alone. Any rivalries and enmities inside Slytherin House stay inside Slytherin House. To outsiders we present a united front, and we do not provoke the rowdy lions, we let them draw wand first. We take care of our own. I will speak to each of you individually over the next week, you firsties, and anyone else who wants to come to me. You will make a mandatory visit to the school nurse tomorrow before breakfast for a full check up and to make sure all your inoculations are up to date. My office is open after school every day for any problems. If you incur any detention or point loss from other teachers which you cannot justify thoroughly to me, you will serve another detention with me. I love my House and I get very irritated when hotheads amongst you act like Gryffindorks and put the House in a bad light. If you are picked on by others, I will defend you to the best of my ability. Don't let me down."

The Slytherin cheered, and Daisy raised a hand. Snape paled and nodded permission to speak.

"Sir, surely we cannot be the only house to have produced a dark lord? This smacks of institutionalised bullying and by naming us dark, becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy?"

Lily would have said much the same thing if she had been a Slytherin, and had been forced to look at the institutionalised bullying.

"Very astute of you, Miss Evans. The Headmaster claims to want the houses to get along, and to be friendly, but in reality this is not encouraged."

"Sir, then in that case, invitations to members of other houses to join study groups, and hobby groups, chess challenges and so on would help at the grass roots level, so the other kids wonder what the grown-ups are fussing about, wouldn't it?"

Snape gave as feral a grin as one of Griphook's.

"Miss Evans, twenty points to Slytherin for a clever idea. I rely on the rest of you to try to make it work. I need to point out that the other houses see Salazar Slytherin himself as a dark wizard, claiming he fought with Godric Gryffindor, and being a parselmouth was plainly evil."

Daisy frowned.

"But sir, my family is descended from the Peverellls, who descended from Slytherin, and we're parselmouths, it's just a language."

This caused something of a furore. Harry had been a parselmouth, and not only had it not gone away when the horcrux died, Dudley had gained the ability with the blood adoption, as had Petunia, and the Grangers had not. Griphook's theory was the descent of the Evans family from Slytherin.

Severus stared. Had Lily been a parselmouth? The subject had never arisen. It was a reasonable explanation for it to be in the family, and for Lily to have been a witch, the first for many generations.

"It is, as you say, just a language, Miss Evans, but I suggest knowledge of your talent should stay in House. I forbid any of the rest of you to speak of it."

"Doesn't that make it forbidden knowledge and confirm belief of darkness, sir?" asked Daisy.

"I fear knowledge of it would confirm belief of darkness of members of Slytherin House in the minds of the rest of the school," said Severus. "You must not be too trusting, Miss Evans; intentions are all very well, but the perceptions of others are what will count."

Daisy considered going further, but nodded her head obediently. She would broach the subject of tearing down the masquerade of Tom Riddle when she spoke alone to her Head of House; there were probably children of Death Eaters here, too brainwashed to accept new ideas from an eleven-year-old. Griphook and Dan had between them undertaken minute searches into Voldemort and his background, using public records on computer and microfiche as well as magical searches. This had been more of a priority than tracing Lupin or finding out why Black had betrayed his supposed best friend.

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The physical with Madam Pomfrey went well for the trio who were all rudely healthy. Blaise Zabini was looking a bit grim about a mandatory physical, and Daisy noticed Snape lay a fatherly hand on the boy's shoulder. She went over.

"Does your dad beat you?" she asked. "We had a stepdad and he was pretty vicious, so I know it happens."

Blaise looked startled.

"I'm fine ..." he began. "You know about it. You don't know all about it though."

"It doesn't matter," said Daisy. "Dudley and me, we know, so if you want to talk, that's fine, and if you don't that's fine, and it doesn't make you less of a person."

"Thanks," said Blaise. "You know they call my mother the Black Widow, don't you?"

"No," said Daisy. "I don't know anything about your family."

"You're ok, Evans; you don't judge. My mother is on her seventh husband, I'm the child of the second."

"That's a lot of stepdads."

"Some of them were pretty good."

"Well, if you need a place to stay, any time, we have room," said Daisy.

"Thanks," said Blaise.

Snape smiled approval at Daisy, and said quietly,

"Ten points for looking out for House family. I'd make it more but it would draw attention."

"He needs help," said Daisy.

"He's not the only one, but at least he realises it," said Snape, cryptically. "What do you know about your family?"

"I know Dudley and I are half-bloods, but that our mother is in descent of wizards," said Daisy, cautiously. "My father was someone named James, and he was married to a relative of Mum."

Severus' face twisted in a sneer.

"Your brother has his hair, if not the colour of it. Does he have the arrogance?"

"Oh no, sir, Dudley was terrified he wasn't going to have magic, it developed late," said Daisy. "He's pretending not to be relieved he was accepted by the sorting hat, which is why he's being brash. He doesn't know I know but I know him better than he knows himself, you know."

"I see," said Snape. "What happened to the abusive stepfather?"

"He skidded on something on the floor and whacked his head on the step," said Daisy.

"I see," said Snape, again, thinking that he did see. The children's mother had dealt with the abuser, and good riddance.

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The first lesson was Herbology with the Ravenclaws. Daisy recalled that the Indian girl had a twin in Gryffindor, and she asked sympathetically,

"Do you feel dreadfully isolated in being away from your twin?"

"No, not at all," Padma Patil replied, coolly. "My sister and I have very little in common. I'm happy to be in a different house. I want good grades, and I don't like irrelevant chatter."

"Oh, that makes sense," said Daisy. "My twin is a hard worker, and my cousin, Hermione, is just plain brilliant."

Padma gave a little smile.

"Not quite brilliant enough for Ravenclaw, though."

"I wouldn't be too self-satisfied if I was you," said Daisy. "She was offered Ravenclaw by the hat, but she knew we'd be likely to be in Slytherin."

"Oh!" said Padma.

It was to Padma's chagrin that she knew the answer to fewer questions than Hermione and Daisy did. Dudley kept himself to himself, holding the opinion that plants should come from the supermarket and go into food, medicine, or vases. He planned to make a good enough showing in Potions not to annoy his stern looking House Master but that was about it. Dudley wanted to learn about charms and enchanting, and if possible, goblin metalcrafting. It meant buckling down to learn arithmancy and runes, but the manufacture of magical items fascinated him. He knew that the charms professor was part goblin, since Griphook had told him, and he hoped to ask for an enchanting apprenticeship one day.

Daisy and Hermione approached Herbology with an eye to potioneering, but Hermione loved flowers as well, like her mother. She knew she was poor at the practical side, having a brown thumb, but at least she could garner as much knowledge as possible. Daisy just enjoyed all lessons, and because she did not worry about gaining marks, often did better than Hermione, in writing interestingly about what interested her, rather than reeling off every fact she could remember. It was a habit Hermione was finally learning to break after Mafalda had gone through several essays with her explaining how excess verbosity lost marks rather than gaining them.

Hermione was trying to take that to heart.

Charms with the Puffs followed, and the trio chanted,

" _Grod haro, srungak Flitwick, okk nargo splen vrodak."_

"Bless my soul," squeaked Flitwick. "How splendid, how very splendid!"

This class would be theory to start with, and was perhaps a little tedious since the trio had already covered the theory, but it behoved them to be polite while other people caught up. They all felt it ridiculous that the parents of muggleborn children were not apprised of their options until their eleventh birthday, giving very little time to catch up on how the wizarding world worked and how to use quills to write. The use of quills was not important for most essays, but if inscribing runes, the use of an organic medium became more important. And this was something not told to those new to the wizarding world, it had been in an advanced rune book which Petunia had been reading. Professor Snape permitted the use of metal nibs attached to quills for his snakes for writing essays, and insisted that his first years had both etiquette classes and penmanship classes until they showed that they were capable of both. The trio had already filled in the etiquette questionnaire and copied the two pieces of work to be graded for this.

The first lesson with the Gryffindors was Care of Beasts, where Professor Kettleburn introduced the class to bowtruckles.

"Where do you find bowtruckles?" asked Professor Kettleburn. Dudley's hand was up first.

"In wand wood trees," said Dudley, when the professor nodded to him. "It's a way of telling which branches and twigs will give the best wands, seeing how many bowtruckles are there. Though they eat fairy eggs and woodlice, the woodlice which have been eating on the most magical twigs are most nutritious to them, and help to maintain their own magic."

"A fuller answer than I expected, seven points to Slytherin," said Professor Kettleburn, who rarely gave more than five points at a time. "Now, I wonder if you know a wand crafter?"

Dudley flushed.

"My Mum, sir," he said.

"I haven't heard of a wandcrafter called Evans," said Ron Weasley. "And what's with a stupid name like Dudley, anyway? What decent wizard calls their son Dudley?"

"I'm named after Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester," said Dudley, refusing to rise. "We have a distant family relationship."

"He was a well-known wizard, if somewhat dark," said Neville. "And I'm going to be getting an Evans wand."

"Mum says the earl's reputation was ill deserved, and that it was the Queen who had Amy Robsart murdered," said Dudley, who had no idea that the Earl of Leicester had been a wizard. Not that he was going to admit to this. Evidently the Evans family had a longer history of association with the Wizarding world than they realised.

"Well, he's plainly got dark descendants if they are slimy snakes," said Ron.

"Mr. Weasley! Five points from Gryffindor for that generalisation," said Professor Kettleburn.

"But sir, we all know what the snakes are like!" said Ron.

"Nice to know your opinion of my wife," said Kettleburn, rather tightly. "Another five points from Gryffindor for continuing so rudely after you have been reproved."

Ron subsided, glaring at Dudley. Daisy stealthily folded a piece of paper into a flapping bird, inscribing the right runes on it to make it fly after Ron shouting "Smelly socks! Smelly socks!" which as the boy's hygiene seemed to be in question might even have been true as well as a cultural reference any British muggleraised child would recognise from the Funnybones books. She released her little commentator after the lesson had finished, and grinned to see it faithfully follow the unsuspecting Weasley boy. For a supposed Light family, the boy seemed to have a remarkable prejudice against newcomers to the magical world.

And then they might do their homework, which was going to be easy. First draughts were done in cheap exercise books with propelling pencils, swapped and commented on, and then written out fair. In Dudley's case the comment would be a suggestion to expand on something, in Daisy's case a note to explain something she thought self-evident more fully, and in Hermione's case it was whole paragraphs crossed out with the comment 'irrelevant' in the margin, or bracketed, with the comment 'too wordy, break it down to a third of that'. It had worked well enough in home schooling.

Neville joined them in the library.

"We had Charms with the Puffs first thing, will you look over my work?" he asked. Hermione pulled it towards her.

"You should do as we do, and do the draught in pencil so you can correct as you go if need be, and not have crossings out," she suggested. "And it's easier to write fast so you use less time."

"I'll do that," said Neville. Hermione continued scanning, making the odd comment in her red correcting crayon. Daisy and Dudley left her to it, writing out their fair copies as Daphne, Tracey, Millie and Blaise joined them.

"There you are," said Daphne. "We thought we'd do the bulk of the writing in the common room so we could discuss it."

"We put up a silencing charm," said Dudley. "Stops the old bat from glowering at us."

"Clever, if you can manage it," said Daphne. "Very well, we'll join you here in future."

"There ought to be an outer library and an inner one, with the outer one for quiet discussion and work, and the inner one for private quiet study," said Hermione. She fished out her list of ways in which to improve and modernise Hogwarts. It was growing daily.

Professor Snape loomed suddenly from behind a bookcase.

"Miss Granger, do you think that you know better than the headmaster and the governors?" he almost hissed.

Hermione beamed at him.

"Why, sir, don't you feel that a living concern like a school needs to grow and change with every generation?" she said. "And those in charge see things the way they were in their young day and don't realise there is room to improve. I'm sure there have been changes and improvements since you were at school, any business which doesn't institute ongoing improvements every few years is stagnant."

Snape froze.

"As far as I am aware, Hogwarts has had no changes save in staff since the rise of Grindelwald," he said.

"Then it's long overdue," said Hermione. "Wouldn't you want your children to have the best, not just good enough?"

"Let me see that list." Snape almost snatched it and read it through, frowning thoughtfully. The chit was actually quite right. "Which of your kin is head of the Prince family?" he asked.

"My mother, sir, but she wanted to pass it to me when I'm adult, because apart from Potions she's not that strong a witch," said Hermione.

"Hmph. She could make a real difference if she took up her place on the school board," said Severus. "I'll send her some information."

"Thank you, sir," said Hermione. "We're new to the British wizarding world, so anything that can help us do our duty by society would be useful."

Daisy reflected that this was an absolute master stroke, implying the Dagworth-Grangers had been abroad.

Snape nodded. "I'll see you Evans twins in my study as you finish your homework," he said.

Daisy rose.

"I've done, I was going to read through for the others, but I can come back to do some of that," she said.

"I'll escort you to collect your brother. I gather the Weasley boy is out for your blood." Severus spoke as they walked.

"What, for a minor prank as a commentary on my opinion for his attempted blood snobbery and insults to Dud?" asked Daisy, in scorn. "Professor Kettleburn ticked him off, but he didn't want to let it go."

Severus sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Miss Evans, I ask you nicely to avoid pranking the Weasley bra ... boy. His twin brothers are likely to return your efforts in spades and make your life a misery."

"Oh, the bullies," said Daisy, in scorn. "We ran into them on the train. I threatened to knife them if they bullied us."

"Not a recommended course of action, you should have told a teacher."

"I had already met Madam McGonagall, sir," said Daisy. "I've no doubt she'd uphold the playful pranks of her lions, regardless of whether they tipped over into bullying. I believe in getting my retribution in first."

"Well, you appear to have a good idea of the dynamics of the lions," said Severus. "Don't get caught getting your retribution in first. The Weasley twins are not good enemies to make. Lie low."

"Yes, sir," said Daisy, skipping after her House Head into his office. "I should think this meeting will be fast, I'm not abused any more, I have a happy homelife, we're well enough off not to need to worry about any extras that are needed, and I haven't yet managed to irritate a staff member and be picked on, and generally speaking my relations with people from other houses have been cordial enough. Can't Neville Longbottom resort? He doesn't deserve to be in the braindrain."

"Do you ever pause to breathe?" asked Severus. Daisy beamed at him.

"Not very often, sir, except when I'm studying," she said.

"Do not chatter in my class."

"Oh no, sir, that's studying," said Daisy, shocked.

"Good. What do you know about your family?"

"It's a bit ... complex, sir. Dud and I are apparently of House Potter as well as Peverelll, and as far as I can gather, my real father was probably James Potter, who seems to have been Potter the Rotter. And really, that's something I do need to talk to you about."

"Indeed?" he tried to look forbidding, but it was hard to be so to someone who looked just like Lily had looked at that age.

"Yes, sir. If Harry Potter is dead, then it falls to his relatives to fulfil his role, and my birthday is the same as his. Dudley's fell after midnight. And I know the prophecy and it's scary, but I don't want to be a pawn of the headmaster like he tried to do to Neville. Only something that might be our destiny is to show Slytherin House that Voldemort is a big fat smelly lie, because he's the son of a squib and a muggle, who turned into a psychopath and sociopath and who is actually as much bad news for any pure blood who follows him as any half blood or muggleborn who opposes him. He's going to rip society apart."

"He's supposed to be dead," said Severus, shocked.

"He isn't though," said Daisy. "Uncle Dan and Uncle Griphook did a lot of research and it seems likely he made horrid things called horcruxes, and stored part of his soul in them."

"They should not have told a child of such things!" gasped Severus, who had only the vaguest idea what a horcrux was.

"Uncle Dan, Aunt Emma, Uncle Griphook and Mum had a big discussion and decided we would be safer if we knew what the problem was than if kept in the dark," said Daisy. "Please, sir, were you truly Lily Evans' friend?"

"Yes, I loved her most dearly," said Severus, shocked into admitting it.

"Will you swear on your magic to protect her family and help defeat Voldemort?" asked Daisy.

"Why on earth do you need that?"

"Because if you swear on your magic I'll willingly tell you more but I shan't say a word if you even try to use legilimensy," said Daisy.

"Very well. I, Severus Snape, descended from the line of Prince, swear on my magic that I will do my best to protect the family of Lily Evans Potter and help them defeat Voldemort." The golden glow swirled around him.

Daisy heaved a sigh of relief.

"Oh good, it feels very uncomfortable not telling the truth to my House Head," she said. "Mum said I could tell you if I thought you were one of the good guys because anyone who hated James Potter couldn't be all bad. Once upon a time, a boy called Harry Potter was abused by his uncle and not treated nicely by his aunt. One day he did accidental magic, and ..." she told the story concisely.

Severus collapsed back in his chair.

"So you are Harry Potter."

"Well, in a way, yes, but in oh so many ways, no," said Daisy. "Griphook says the scar was a horcrux, but changing got rid of it. He says it's dead. So that's one down. And I like being Daisy. It suits me better, and it feels more comfortable. It doesn't make a lot of difference really at our age, but I'm happy with it. I expect we could have used the blood adoption ritual to change me back if I'd wanted it, but I didn't. And Aunt Petunia is now my mum, and she loves magic and I do wish she could have had someone sort it out for her and Mummy Lily when they were young, like we did for Dudley."

"So you've forced a relationship with the Granger girl to give her parents magic."

"Yes, but her father was technically a Dagworth-Granger Squib, and her mother likewise of the line Prince," said Daisy. "I don't suppose there really is such a thing as muggleborn, only a fortuitous recombination of squib genes."

"An interesting hypothesis," said Severus. "The headmaster cannot learn of this, I am not having Lily's son ... daughter ... put through his crazy form of testing. Petunia hated me, though; has that changed?"

"She's prepared to be open minded," said Daisy. "She knows a lot of it was her fault for being jealous, and people do grow up. Did Dumbledore potion my mother to make her love my father?"

Severus stared.

"I ... don't know," he said. "He is a competent potioneer. I alienated her by saying something unforgiveable to her. I always hoped our early friendship would lead to her forgiveness, but then she took up with James Potter."

"I bet she was potioned," said Daisy. "I don't trust the headmaster, even if he means well."

"He believes in what he calls the 'greater good'," said Severus. "Beware, he is a master legilimens; do not meet his eyes. I'll teach you, Dudley and Hermione occlumensy."

"Oh good, we've been reading books about it," said Daisy. "My rings help protect me, Hermione's protect her, and Dudley has an amulet. But it would be handy to have more protection."

"I will teach you as much as I can as soon as I can. As a youth, I foolishly followed ... Voldemort ... and took his mark. He was very keen to get a potioneer on the way to mastery. I ... will have to spy on him when he returns, and I do not doubt that you are correct."

"Why do you have to spy on him?"

"Because that's the price of me not being turned in as a Death Eater," said Severus, bitterly. "I haven't taken part in any atrocities, I was there to brew, but I am marked. And Dumbledore holds it over my head."

"A curse can be removed. We'll have to work on it," said Daisy. "Dudley is learning goblin magics from Uncle Griphook, and Hermione is on the fourth year rune book, because she got bored. I throw power at a problem, but when we're older, I reckon if anyone can do it, we'll be able to, with a clever man like you, and our excellent parents as well to help."

"I don't even know if it's possible; he cast the spell in parseltongue ... Merlin's turds! You're a parselmouth!"

Daisy beamed at him.

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History was a shock. The trio rolled their eyes, and decided to read history on their own time. The prejudice against goblins was quite shocking. There was no point turning in essays as a ghost could scarcely mark them, so they decided to take turns setting their own essays. They found quickly that their study group, which increased to include Padma Patil and Terry Boot from Ravenclaw and Ernie MacMillan from Hufflepuff, thought this a brilliant idea, and they might write their essays in the time set aside for history lesson, and read them out loud for comments to the rest of the group outside while the weather was good, and in an unused classroom when the winter closed in.

Astronomy was a matter of contention. Hermione asked why growing bodies were kept out of bed instead of having a planetarium, and added that to her list of deficiencies. She also pointed out that the suggested telescope was inferior to one she had acquired cheaper in the muggle world. Professor Sinistra was duly impressed by Hermione's six-inch reflector, and had no idea how to acquire a planetarium. The trio refused to turn up to a class which would be detrimental to their health. Their Slytherin friends and Neville joined the boycott, and Professor Sinistra, refusing to report so widespread a rebellion to the headmaster, wrote to Dan, at Hermione's suggestion, for a way to set up a planetarium. Dan came up with a projected planetarium using a lumos spell to project it, and suggested that once the heavens were well known to the class, a late-night practical twice a term would be acceptable, increasing as they got older. Madam Sinistra rescheduled her classes during the previously scheduled rest period. And when Minerva commented on how much brighter her lions and the snakes were on Thursday mornings, Sinistra said smugly that solving the problem of subjecting young bodies to late nights had been very beneficial.

Transfiguration was a lesson about which the trio had mixed feelings. Daisy felt most embarrassed that she had picked up the teacher and petted her ears on the way to sit down for the first class, but the exercise was so easy she scarcely had to touch her wand. McGonagall plainly disliked having to give points to Slytherin for performing well and fast, though Daisy's resemblance to Lily had the transfiguration teacher looking wistfully at Daisy at times. Minerva was quite as biased in her own way as Severus Snape could be, and being forced to be fair to Slytherin gave her a face, Daisy giggled, which looked as though someone had swapped a bottle of single malt for something awful like Jack Daniels.

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The trio enjoyed double potions with the Gryffindors. They would have enjoyed it more without the Gryffindors, except Neville. Hermione partnered him, and knowing that he had the advantage of reading the extra texts meant that he was better prepared. Snape did not glare at him any more than he did at anyone, especially as he was partnered by one of his favourites. The trio were quietly competent, and Hermione raised her hand to ask a question about the instructions on the board where she felt they were counter-intuitive.

"Huh, not such a vaunted potioneer if you can't follow instructions," sneered Weasley.

"Five points to Slytherin for a valid query, and five from Gryffindor for an ill-advised and misinformed comment," said Severus. "Yes, the potion would be better if you crushed rather than chopped, but crushing is held to be too difficult for first years, and chopping is substituted in the class book. Anyone who knows how to crush with the back of your knife may do so for extra credit, so long as you write it up in your methodology notes."

Hermione happily crushed her beans, showing Neville how to do it. Dudley and Daisy exchanged a look and gave a nervous giggle. They had already crushed theirs automatically. Severus was thrilled. At least two natural potioneers in one year! Dudley was well-trained, not natural, but Daisy and Hermione ... it made teaching worthwhile. This year it would be worth his while to go into the reasons behind what was done, just to promote the abilities of those two, it was worth wasting his pearls of wisdom on the rest of the dunderheads to train two real potioneers. He would even bring in some of his extra texts and make them available to the rest so they would not be asking stupid questions. Except the Weasley boy who would probably always ask stupid questions. Well, if he gave Severus any excuse he could be excluded. Or poisoned. No, probably that was a bad idea.

Severus Snape started teaching properly for the first time since he had been teaching at Hogwarts, and found that the general standard of his first years was so much greater for making that effort that he extended the effort higher up the school.

He was amazed at the results, and started giving the whole OWL and NEWT year voluntary remedial lessons to fill in what they should have learned earlier. Suddenly he discovered that teaching was actually rewarding.

Fuck Albus bloody Dumbledore and his 'generosity', he was going to teach for fun not gratitude, and work with his favourite little snakes to get rid of the dark mark.

Severus wrote to Petunia, thanking her for giving him an opportunity to get over their childish childhood feud, and the chance to work with her excellent children. He expressed a desire to be involved in any search for Certain Items, to help deal with a certain Tom Riddle. He also asked Petunia's advice on dealing with an abused child who did not realise he was abused, since what he understood of Vernon's spoiling of Dudley was very similar to the treatment of his own godson, Draco, at the hands of Draco's father, Lucius Malfoy.

Petunia wrote back that she feared it might be too late, but that while he had the boy under his care at school, eroding his belief structure by behaviour and stories would probably be the best way. Severus was grateful for the aid. Draco could be impossible at times.

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The trio were not that fond of Halloween. The Grangers disapproved of Trick or Treat on grounds that it made more unnecessary visits to dentists, as well as being a rather nasty form of begging with a blackmail component. Petunia had never thought about it, but as Lily had died on Halloween, the combined family kept a quiet evening of vigil for absent friends.

Severus had given the trio permission to call an elf to eat in the common room instead, when they had asked, and only wished he could join them.

Before the meal the trio had thoughtfully coated the handrails of the steps leading to the Hufflepuff dungeons with a potion to turn all the little badgers yellow and black overnight, because it might be a sad occasion, but the thought of some of the stuffier people in the school being striped was an idea which cheered them up.

Besides, they had been working on the potion illicitly for weeks and had been looking for an opportunity to use it.

It so happened that the dynamics of the castle allowed them to hear a scream from two floors up, and that was not something to ignore by children who prided themselves on terrorising bullies. Marcus Flint had been most conciliatory since Hermione and Daisy combined to feed him a memory of exactly what dentists do.

They pelted up the stairs, and found themselves assailed by a most unpleasant smell.

Daisy activated her rings and sent forth a mind scream aimed at Professor Snape. He had, after all, promised her protection, and her ring had witnessed his magic. And then they ran towards the girl's toilet where the enormous arse of a troll might be seen.

Daisy ducked between its legs and fired a stinging hex directly up, dodging back immediately. After all it was a tender place for humans. The troll howled and clutched itself. Dudley winced.

"Trolls are resistant to stunners," said Hermione. "And a lot of other spells."

"Yes, but the doorway isn't resistant to a trip rope between the doorposts," said Daisy, whipping off her robe, transfiguring it into a fine line, and using a permanent sticking charm each side. "Oy, troll, you stupid thing, we're over here!"

The troll figured out that the pain in its nuts had come from behind and turned round, still limping. It did not see the rope, and since the corridor was less wide than the troll was tall, it hit its head on the opposite wall. This was not, to their consternation, enough to knock it out, though it was plainly groggy.

And then Severus Snape was belting up the stairs, took in the situation in an instant, and was casting spells like a madman to bind the troll and render it unconscious.

"Oh you did hear! I hoped you would," said Daisy.

"What in the world are you brats doing here?" demanded Severus, who now had too slightly tearful little girls clinging to him. Dudley emerged from the toilet with a tearstained Millicent Bulstrode, wrapped in his own robe. He was supporting her carefully.

"Millie's hurt, sir, flying debris. We missed missing her because of missing the feast, if you see what I mean; that rotter Weasley made her cry, and she went to the loos to cry more privately, and then this troll turned up. Why is there a troll in the castle, sir? Is it Weasley's brother?"

"That is to be determined," said Severus, grimly. "Take Millie to Madam Pomfrey, and seventy five points to Slytherin for good work and minus fifty points from Slytherin for being damned little fools." He paused. "And fifty back for thinking of screaming for my mind, and for saving a fellow snake's life," he added. "You had better all stay the night in the hospital, out of the way of interrogation, and you need calming draughts. I'll be in to check on you later."

"Yes, sir," they chorused.

The voices of other teachers coming made them beat a hasty retreat.

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Severus slid into the hospital wing and hastily passed out four potions to the children now curled up in beds there.

"Dreamless sleep," he said. "You should just have managed to down it and get it working before the headmaster turns up."

They obediently drank, even Millie, who had no clue why the headmaster was not to be trusted. Severus exited by floo moments ahead of the arrival of Albus Dumbledore, who was about to begin a relentless interrogation until it became apparent that the objects of his interrogation were gently snoring. Albus sighed. Sometimes Poppy could be too zealous, and she must have known he would want to know what was going on. Well, he would come by in the morning.

He was doomed to be too late. The early rising habits of the trio and their closest satellites defeated him, and Daisy had called Denny to get them all fresh clothes, and to retrieve the trip rope to turn back into a robe.

The little elf turned up with not just clothes, and the robe ready transfigured, but also a silvery-grey cloak.

"This is the invisibility cloak which belonged to Master James!" he squeaked. "It has his magical signature on it, and bad headmaster was keeping it!"

"Wow," said Daisy. "Thank you, Denny!" she kissed the little elf on the cheek.

And then they went for their morning run as if nothing had happened, though Millie was still much bruised and was content to watch.

Severus was in the common room when they came in.

"Apparently Professor Quirrell saw the troll in the dungeons," he said, neutrally.

"Well, he was wrong, sir," said Daisy. "We were in the dungeons and it wasn't."

"I presume the choleric, er, colouric, nature of the badgers would be why you were abroad in the dungeons?"

"We needed cheering up, sir," said Dudley. "It was harmless; Lily wouldn't have disapproved."

"It is harmless and should be wearing off around now," said Severus. "Nicely brewed. Five points for the excellent brewing and five points off for being caught pranking, now I can say I have punished the miscreants. Well, well, it seems dear Quirinius was incorrect. And the Headmaster was all for sending the children to their common rooms forgetting that two of the common rooms are where the troll was supposed to be. Madam Sprout and I vetoed that silly idea, and then I got your call. What happened to Quirinius Quirrell I don't know, but if you can think of a way of getting his damned turban off cleverly, I never suggested it."

"Of course not, sir," they chorused.

Millie was much shaken up and there was a serious prank owed to Ronald Weasley as well as to Quirrell as the trio thought it quite plain that their House Master thought the stuttering DADA teacher was responsible for the troll.

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"Look here, Weasley and Weasley," said Daisy to the twins, "We want to come to an agreement."

"What sort"

"Of agreement?"

"We don't prank you, and you don't prank us," said Daisy. "Of course, house-wide pranks don't count, that's just in the spirit of fun. But we need to punish your brother for serious harm to one of our own."

"What sort of"

"Serious harm?"

"Nearly being killed by the troll sort of serious harm," said Daisy.

"Speak and tell all," said the twins in unison. Daisy did, omitting her mental scream for their House Head.

The twins exchanged glances.

"Enterprising use,"

"Of spells," they said.

"Let us give Ron"

"Twenty four hours"

"To apologise"

"To Miss Bulstrode."

"Very well," said Daisy. "We'll accept that. And then if he doesn't, he can expect prank hell as a punishment."

"That sounds"

"Fair enough"

"So long as you don't"

"Seriously hurt him."

"Deal," said Daisy.

She was fairly certain that Ronald Weasley would never apologise to any 'slimy snake'.

When Ron shouted,

"Hey, Bulstrode, did you kiss the troll? I bet that's the best offer you've ever had!" his brothers winced and made their way over to the Slytherin table, barely quailing under the hostile eyes.

"Miss Bulstrode, we would like to apologise"

"For the crassness of our brother."

"Please do not blame us for his"

"Lack of social assets."

"We think"

"Percy dropped him on his head when he was a baby."

"Thank you, Mr. Weasley, Mr. Weasley," said Millicent, with dignity. "I do not hold you accountable for your brother's lack of manners and vile comments. I have nothing against Gryffindors in the general way, though sometimes it's hard not to be."

"For such generous words,"

"We will extend the same courtesy"

"To Slytherin House,"

"And will endeavour to know some of you better."

They bowed to Daisy.

"Please don't kill him."

"He just upped the ante," said Daisy, grimly. "He may never be the same colour two days running until the end of term, never mind what else we do."

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Millie started going around with the trio, whom she knew would look out for her. They invited her to join the extra study that even the study group did not commit to, it being Friday afternoon and a free afternoon, or as Hermione put it, an independent study afternoon. This meant most of the first years were messing about outside.

"I know I'm ugly, but it's not nice of boys to say so," she said, dolefully.

"You're not ugly," said Dudley. "You have a bad hair day, and your skin's a bit bad, but if you carry on running with us, and ask the elves for less fried food that'll clear up. You have nice eyes," he added.

"Dud! Really, who needs enemies when you have friends like Dudley?" laughed Daisy. "You would be better off, though, if you lost the fringe, fringes give you spots on the forehead and it makes your face short. I'll get one of our elves to style it for you."

"Really? We don't have elves," said Millie. "We might be pure blood but we're not much better off than the Weasleys, and my father has to do what Lucius Malfoy says because we owe them money. He managed not to take the mark, but if the Dark Lord is coming back like people say, then he might have to."

"Look, will you find out how much he owes?" said Daisy. "I reckon we could get the loan transferred to our families, and then he'd be safe to refuse the mark, well, safer."

"Would you be able to do that? Oh, I'd be so grateful, we're a dark family but we've never been suicidally daft before."

"I'll write to mum," said Dudley.

"You four!" Professor Snape called them over. "I need this book taken back to the library, and my compliments to Madam Pince and my thanks. You might check I haven't left any notes in it."

"Yes, sir!" they chorused.

The book was called 'Moste Potente Potions', and it had a slip of paper in it. The paper was a copy of the methodology of brewing a potion called Polyjuice Potion, and the ingredients were listed, along with notes about where to purchase them, in some cases in a partially prepared state to save brewing time.

Daisy gasped.

"This is Professor Snape's prank on Ron Weasley for us to carry out," she said.

"A professor wouldn't do anything like that," said Hermione.

"I bet he knows that McGonagall won't look on it as near murder, or even extreme bullying," said Daisy.

"So who are we going to turn Ron into?" asked Dudley.

"McGonagall?" giggled Daisy.

"Pansy Parkinson," suggested Millie.

"Pansy it is," said Daisy.

"Are you sure we ... hell, yes, what he said was unforgivable," said Hermione. They returned the book to the library, surprising Madam Pince, who muttered that Professor Snape had only taken it out that morning, and then hared off to the owl loft to send the Evans owl, Hedwig, and the Granger owl, Tufty, for mail-order potion ingredients.

On the way down, they came across Ron Weasley, Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan hexing Neville, who was doing his best, but without an adequate wand was not succeeding well.

The four did not bother with wands, tripping and throwing the bullying three with smooth martial arts moves, and having disarmed them, Daisy thoughtfully threw all their wands down the stairwell so they would have to go and fetch them.

They turned their attention to stopping Neville dancing, and heaved him up to the hospital.

"Good gracious, what's happened now?" demanded Poppy Pomfrey.

"That Weasley boy and his friends, he's out of control," said Daisy.

"I told him that his remarks this morning were out of order, and he should apologise to Millie for them, and for putting her in harm's way with the troll," said Neville. "I know he couldn't know there would be a troll, but he shouldn't have been so unkind anyway. And somehow he got Dean and Seamus to agree that because I think common courtesy is good, and being rotten to girls is bad, that I am a slimy snake lover who needs to be taught how wonderful Gryffindor House is. I want to transfer."

"You can't transfer once you're sorted," said Madam Pomfrey, shocked.

"Well, I am not going back to Gryffindor tower," said Neville. "Can I bunk down with you, Dud?"

"Of course," said Dudley. "I'll have a word with Professor Snape, we're a bit crowded. Won't your Gran cut up a bit?"

"My Gran told me to make my friends where I found courtesy and honesty, and she would keep an open mind."

"Well, she needs to be told about this," said Hermione. "Madam Pomfrey, can an elf bring Neville's kit here? I don't think he'd get much better treatment from Malfoy, Nott and Crabbe, though Zabini is decent and we'd look out for him. But I think Lady Augusta should insist on a resorting, though of course we'll put him up in the snakepit for as long as he needs."

"Thanks, Mione," said Neville.

The four left Neville under a calming draught and duly went to report to Severus.

He raised an eyebrow.

"Fortuitous that you were up at the owl loft," he murmured. "I'm not sure Lady Augusta would be too happy about her grandson being in with us snakes, but then, I doubt she'd be pleased at him being harried in his own house for common courtesy either. Put what you found in writing and sign it. Min ... Madam McGonagall might even take the word of one who looks like one of her favourites, and sort things out in her pride. Wherein lies the problem of the lions; lions come in prides, and there's too much pride in the house."

"Oh you are so clever with words, sir," said Daisy. "Sir, aren't the Weasleys pureblood? Why don't they have any manners?"

Severus sneered.

"Because certain light families consider the wizarding world and all its customs to be antiquated, and stop teaching proper etiquette and usage," he said.

"Crumbs, that's going to come back and bite the weasel on the arse when he insults the established betrothed of another pure blood and he finds himself in a death duel," said Dudley.

Severus permitted himself a thin smile.

"Even so," he said. "Language, however, somewhat lacking."

"Sorry sir," said Dudley.

"Please, sir, will you take Nev to our mum this weekend and get a new wand started?" asked Daisy. The professor's stern features softened.

"Of course, Miss Evans," he said. He had heard them chattering about Neville's wand. Typical of Augusta, stiff rumped old biddy. Her son, Frank, had been his contemporary, and now she lauded him to the skies to Neville after spending his whole school life running him down. "And I will offer him sanctuary, and advise the Headmaster to permit him to resort, unless Minerva comes down hard on that sort of bullying. I suspect if he did resort, he'd be a Hufflepuff."

"Oh, well, we have friends in Hufflepuff, and he can help them out in Potions as he knows what's what," said Daisy.

Severus reflected that at least the Longbottom boy was a competent potioneer, which was more than could be said of a lot of Hufflepuffs this year.

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"Minerva, why is it that some of my little snakes had to rescue one of your lions from other lions?" Severus asked.

"Whit de ye mean, Severus?"

"Well, Minerva, it appears that the Longbottom boy, who has been well trained in courtesy by his grandmother, took issue with Mr. Weasley minimus over both driving Millie Bulstrode to cry in the toilets where she narrowly escaped death from the troll, and then you heard his insult this morning. Now if one of my snakes had said something similar to Miss Brown or Miss Patil or one of the other airheads, I suspect you would have been fulminating about it. Miss Bulstrode is very sensitive about the fact that growing up is causing her to be less than beautiful at the moment, and she has feelings quite as deep as any of your lionesses. As Mr. Longbottom, who is a true gentleman, pointed out. For which he was hexed badly enough to need the hospital by Mr. Weasley and two of his friends, and felt unsafe enough to ask if he could move into Slytherin House."

"Merlin's beard!" Minerva gasped.

"Exactly; for a lion to feel safer in the snakepit is not a natural state of affairs," said Severus. "I suggest you rein Weasley and his goons in, or I will be supporting Mr. Longbottom's request to be resorted."

"Mercy me!" said Minerva. "I ... I thought Mr. Weasley spoke in jest ..."

"Jests are only funny when intended lightly, and not aimed to hurt," said Severus. "I saw the look on his face; he meant to hurt. And you know what? I've heard him make comments about girls in his own house too, and about Miss Padma Patil in Ravenclaw, whom he designates as 'mental', a singularly ill-educated way of suggesting insanity, for her desires to study."

"Well that's up to Filius," said Minerva, defensively.

"Oh, indeed, but I am a witness," said Severus.

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Having house elf help for pranks was very useful. Ron Weasley and his friends were in detention for bullying and the fact that his rather extensive farts were now glowing a number of vivid colours was not something he realised at first. This was caused by an ingenious brewing of a wind relieving potion with colour change charms embedded in it with runes.

"It'd make a great spell when we know enough arithmancy for spell crafting," said Dudley.

"Pity it's not really on to get Denny to nick his robes to put the elemental wind runes on them tied to when he breaks wind," said Daisy, "So they billow like Professor Snape's only more noxiously."

"That's almost an affront to Professor Snape though," said Hermione.

"Oh, I wouldn't want to do that," said Daisy.

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It took until the next transfiguration class for Minerva to corner Neville.

"Mr. Longbottom," she said to him after class, "I hae spoken tae Mr. Weasley and I'm afraid his attitude is recalcitrant. I have spoken tae his mither, who, I fear, cannae see a problem. I have written to your grandmother to tell her a' aboot the problem. However, Mr. Weasley has, reluctantly, agreed not to pick on you, and his friends have seen sense."

"What has this to do with me, ma'am?" asked Neville.

"Weel, I should think ye can safely move back intae Gryffindor Tower," said McGonagall.

"Let me get this straight, ma'am," said Neville. "You spoke to Ron and he said something about it not counting to insult slimy snakes and any lion who disagrees is no true lion?"

"I ... something along those lines."

"And his mother plainly agrees, and a boy with that attitude who has basically told you he intends to bully other kids based on their House is still in school and is not expelled?"

"It seems extreme to expel ..."

"And if Millie Bulstrode hadn't made such good friends as the Evans-Granger set, a fragile and sensitive kid like her might let taunting as extreme as Ron Weasley's make her jump off the Astronomy tower, which is what she said she would have done, because he hasn't stopped, and that, to me is murder by the most insidious means. If being like Ron Weasley is what it takes to be a lion, or to be the sort of person who thinks he deserves to be in school with decent folk, then I don't want to be a lion."

"Mr. Longbottom, surely you dinnae think I condone his behaviour?"

"Well, Madam McGonagall, how can I think anything else when he is still here, still insulting Millie, and still convinced he's in the right?" asked Neville.

"Mr. Longbottom, I am aye hoping tae reach him, and he is serving detentions for his behaviour."

"Which is the least that a bully like him should do. I've had more courtesy from Draco Malfoy, which is frankly scary."

"Whit dae ye want me to say, Mr. Longbottom?"

"I want you to be able to say that Gryffindor is a house of proud, brave, honourable people, not nasty little cowards who pick on little girls or need three on one to make their point," said Neville. "And I swear on my magic that I will not return to Gryffindor tower until such time as it fulfils those conditions."

The golden swirl of magic surrounded him and his new wand lit up like a beacon.

"I see." McGonagall was displeased. Partly with Neville, though she could not but admire how he had stood up to her, a true lion if every she had seen one. Mostly at Ron for his attitude and also at Molly for her refusal to see that Ron picking on a Slytherin girl was no different to someone from Slytherin picking on Ginny when she started next year, because Slytherin were dark and probably deserved it for something they hadn't been caught at. Molly had an attitude problem too.

That the child was eleven seemed to make no difference.

And then there was Albus, who refused to expel the boy, twinkling in that irritating way and saying that boys would be boys.

"It's the headmaster, isn't it?" said Neville. "He wants the Weasleys as allies, and he keeps trying to make me be friends with Ron, and drops hints about adventure and betting that I wonder what's on the third floor. He wants me to team up with the nasty brat and go investigate the corridor on the third floor, and I have no intention of doing so, he's been at Gran since Harry Potter died to make me into a child of some prophecy that Gran says is a load of baloney. Well, I'm not playing his games. If he wants Voldemort killed when he comes back, he can do it himself. Divination is bunk."

Minerva stared.

"That's aye a verra tenuous piece of reasoning," she said. Dropping hints of adventure to an eleven year old to pass the puzzle run ... which was aimed at someone who was friendly with Hagrid, which Neville was, good at Herbology, which Neville was, good on a broom, which Ron was, good at chess, which Ron was ... no, surely not, there was still the troll and the logic problem. The boy was making her paranoid.

"Tenuous, Ma'am? From my viewpoint it's very apparent, and I've already written to my Gran to tell her what the problem is from my point of view, and Professor Snape was kind enough to do so too, and to offer me refuge, and Hermione wrote to her too, and Gran wrote back to me to tell me to hold tight and keep my honour intact and be thankful for friends even in strange places, and not to let my standards slip just because some people had the wrong idea of what it means to be a lion. Fred and George backed me up, they're disgusted with Ron, and they told me not to worry, so I'm not. I'll keep my Gryffindor robes as the Headmaster refused my written request to be resorted, but I'll be going to lessons with the Slytherin, and living with them, because they are the ones who have shown me loyalty, honour and courage."

"Weel, if ye've made up yer mind, there's nothing I may say tae change it," said Minerva.

"I prefer actions to words," said Neville, and swept out, surreptitiously steadying himself as he stumbled.

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Severus was, meanwhile, breaking the news to his snakes that Tom Marvolo Riddle, son of a squib and a muggle, raised in a muggle orphanage, was none other than the self-styled Voldemort. Naturally this met which horror and disbelief.

"The dark arts are many-headed and mutable, ever-changing, insidious," said Severus. "Riddle dabbled in those arts until the handsome charismatic boy he had been when he left school had the mark of monstrosity upon him. Others who followed blindly into embracing the dark without thought came to the state that they felt it reasonable, and even amusing, to torture people to insanity. I'm sorry, Neville, but this has to be made clear."

Neville, white-faced, nodded.

Severus continued.

"Frank and Alice Longbottom, who were pureblooded, and therefore supposedly those whom the Dark Lord wished to promote, were tortured to insanity. Why? Because a clever muggleborn witch, Lily Evans Potter, used familial magic to place a protection on her baby, Harry Potter. We now know that Lily Evans was in descent of the Peverelll and Slytherin line, so the protection was the greater because Riddle was attacking his own kindred, and magic does not like that. The killing curse bounced back on him, and the ignorant and inbred Lestrange brothers and Bellatrix Black-Lestrange and Barty Crouch decided that the Longbottoms 'must' know what had happened. Without any logic or reasoning. So they diminished pure blood, removing from the breeding pool a couple who would have had more children as strong as Neville, whose new wand demonstrates ably how good he really is."

Draco flushed; he had taunted Neville for being a squib, and had been offered a sanctioned Slytherin duel. He was still red and gold striped and occasionally a lock of his hair still chirped, where Neville had turned it into canaries.

Neville had enjoyed getting some payback.

Severus resumed.

"Tom Riddle attracted those who felt that the wizarding world was being overtaken by muggleborn. But his mother was from a family so pure blooded that his mother was probably the daughter of siblings. And she was a squib. Tom is undoubtedly very, very powerful; the son of a squib and a muggle. Now to me, that looks like proof of what muggles call 'hybrid vigour' which is to say strength acquired from not letting the apples drop too close to the tree. Those of you who have studied herbology can attest to the fact that too many back-crosses cause weaknesses."

There were a number of nods.

"That's true," said Marcus Flint, unwillingly. "And pure blood families have more squibs."

"And what happens to the squibs, Marcus?" asked Severus.

"They are dumped in muggle orphanages, usually," said Flint. "Oh."

"You're a bright lad who doesn't need to bully," said Severus. "And you've just added up several knuts and come to a galleon, haven't you?"

"That muggleborn are descended from squibs," said Flint.

"Exactly so," said Severus. "I have just been reinstated in the Prince family by the head of that family who is accepted by magic as the heir, being the granddaughter of a squib who was dumped, but not disowned, because nobody ever bothered. Likewise the line of squib Dagworth-Grangers, who are now allied with family Prince through marriage. And the Evans family whom I have mentioned. I have not gone into the pedigrees of other so-called muggleborn in the school, but I'd be prepared to bet my magic that they can be traced back similarly. Which makes the pureblood versus mudblood argument not only risible, but irrelevant. Now I know many of you have parents who have believed in Voldemort, but he has lied to you, as he lied to me when I first believed in him. And we are snakes! Do we accept being lied to?"

The whole house growled "NO!"

Severus relaxed slightly.

"No, we do not. But we are too cold-blooded to get angry. Snakes don't get mad, they get even."

"But sir, isn't he dead? Killed by the Evans family magic?" asked Flint.

"Ah, there are those who would like you to think so," said Severus. "Those who are pusillanimous weaklings like the minister of magic, and those who wish to stick their heads in the sand; and even Riddle's most powerful followers who want to have it forgotten so they can resurrect him for such sick follies as they wish to engage in. I am not sure why anyone would think that transient power to hurt the odd muggle would be fun, and if anyone is that socially inept, I suggest they might try to find a life for themselves. Especially as the payment for this is to creep on the ground and kiss the hem of his robe, and hope not to take the cruciatus curse which he hands out on whim."

"My father would not! Malfoys bow to no-one!" declared Draco.

"Draco, I have watched your father crawl on his knees in the mud to kiss his lord's robes, and ask 'what is thy bidding, my master?', and thank the creepy little bastard for his correction when he has been crucio'd. Do you really want this?"

"No!" cried Draco.

The house was shocked.

"And my father?" asked Theodore Nott.

"Yours, and Pansy's and Marcus's and Crabbe's and others. And it's sickening."

"My mother wouldn't bow to him; he was too ugly when he tried to recruit her, and she only accepts men who bow to her," said Zabini. "One of my stepfathers followed him and ... he died."

"Thank you for sharing that, Blaise," said Severus. "I am aware that some of you have less than perfect parents and it's not just the deatheaters. I also know those of you whose parents are afraid to stand aside from him expect suffering as there are rumours of his anticipated return. Now we have a slight problem in dealing with the supposed lord of light, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, who is prone to fixed ideas, like all snakes are slimy, and only the object of prophecy can defeat the dark lord. Daisy?"

"The prophecy skipped to me when Harry Potter died," said Daisy. "And though I don't hold much credence in it, Albus manynames Dumbledore does, and so does Riddle. It goes as follows," and she quoted the prophecy. "Dumbledore is trying to keep it secret because he thinks knowing all of it might give Mouldyshorts an advantage, but as it's so vague, anything anyone could make up from it is guesswork. However, if it turns out that I have to kill the little beast, it's comforting to know that my House is behind me and thirsting for revenge for his lies."

"But the muggleborn have no manners," said Flint "And they don't know how to go on."

"And whose fault is that, Flint?" asked Daisy. "If a muggleborn came into Slytherin, there are etiquette classes. But in no other house. And then there are the Weasleys. The manners and customs are not being eroded by the muggleborn, but by some of the so-called light families, whom I say are darker than dark in wanting to tear down our society. People like Bumblefrump, who pretends to be a genial grandfather figure, but who pushes and manipulates. Tell them, Neville."

Neville explained how Dumbledore had tried to get control of his upbringing, and how he tried to get him to go look in the corridor on the third floor.

"There's a sodding great three-headed dog in there," said a third-year boy. "I went with the Weasley twins. They aren't too bad, you know, a bit unmannerly but they take hints."

"It is supposed to be a series of traps hiding the philospher's stone to keep it from an agent of Voldemort the headmaster believes is in the school," said Severus. "And this is a mark of his arrogance, to keep an agent of the dark lord rather than denouncing him, and to have dangerous creatures like, er, Fluffy, and the troll further along the trap. Don't bother following the challenges, he has set them up with a twofold purpose, one to trap the said agent, and two, as a training ground for Neville, whom he sees as the object of the prophecy, as the spare, as it were."

"How do you know you are the object of the prophecy not Longbottom, Evans?" asked Draco.

"Because it let me view it in the department of mysteries when my stepfather elect took me there," said Daisy. Petunia had written that she had accepted an offer of marriage from Griphook. "And you can only view prophecies if they relate to you."

"Evans, you realise that if the dark lord returns, that makes you a target of any who follow him?" said Draco.

"Yes, and I am relying on the inherent good common sense of my housemates to realise that a sham like him can't do as much for them as potentially I can," said Daisy.

"Those who break from him are pursued and killed," said another older boy.

"By whom? By the rest of his slaves," said Hermione. "If none of his slaves answer his call, who's going to kill them? Santa Claus?"

"Valid point," said the boy. "It involves all of us standing together though, and none of our fathers making unfortunate choices."

"This," said Severus, "is why I am telling you all now, so you have the opportunity to tell your fathers. And I know some of you fear to do so, but if you cannot, you will always have a refuge here."

"My aunt Bellatrix would crucio me, if she ever found out," said Draco. "And Mum loves her."

Severus gave him a compassionate look.

"Your mother loves the sister she had before Bellatrix went insane," he said.

"My father won't like it."

"Your father enjoys being leader of the dark faction and if he can see a way to continue in that by escaping from Riddle, he'll leap at it," said Severus. "And I'll see if I can't research the Tonks family tree so your mother feels she can associate with her other sister, Andromeda."

"I have an Aunt Andromeda?" Draco was amazed.

"Yes, she married a muggleborn wizard, or rather a re-emergent wizard," said Severus. "And their daughter is the first metamorphagus born to the Black line in generations."

Draco looked thoughtful.

"That does argue for ... for hybrid vigour," he said. "I think a lot of Blacks married their cousins."

"Quite so," said Severus.

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"Finch-Fletchley, I owe you an apology for having called you a mudblood last week." Draco looked down his nose but was determined.

"Yes, you do, but why suddenly decide this?" Justin asked. He kept a finger on his wand.

"Because I have been told a load of rubbish about magical heritance," said Draco. "We snakes have been learning a few things, and we need to reach out and learn more about other people in other houses because if we don't, we'll never grow out of being medieval." This was in response to a lecture from Hermione regarding the attitudes of the church towards witchcraft, and especially the extreme responses of the Protestant church in the age of madness in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Draco was frankly terrified of Hermione, who reminded him of his mother, with a zealous streak which put him in mind of stories of his crazy Aunt Bellatrix. He also respected her abilities and was horrified to think that if her family had not bothered to find their heritance and use familial magics to enhance their own magic then he would have been calling her 'mudblood.' Neville was welcome to her!

Justin considered.

"That sounds like you've been thinking about it," he said, holding out a hand. Draco took it with some relief.

"I think you ought to ask Gringotts for a heritance test, because most so-called muggleborn come from old families," Draco said.

"Why, to fit in with your idea of what's suitable?"

"No, not at all! If you are descended from squibs who ended a family, the goblins keep the vaults going, and there might be familial grimoires there, with unique magic! The wizarding world is weakened by pure-blood supremacy and families dying out, because a lot of magic is lost by vaults being in lock down."

"And you want me to share that?"

Draco was shocked, and showed it.

"You never share family magic with anyone but family, and with your wife when you have one," he said. "But loss of family magic diminishes the whole wizarding world."

There's none so vehement as the converted.

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The polyjuice potion was finished at long last, and though Pansy Parkinson was a bit of a pain, the five, since Neville had joined them, decided that it would be unfair to sully her by putting her likeness on Ronald Weasley. It was easy enough to snag one of the flyaway hairs of Madam Trelawney. And they had worked with a will to perfect a switching charm to substitute it for Ron's last drink at dinner, hoping that he would do as he usually did and chug down a whole glass of pumpkin juice without stopping to taste it.

Meanwhile they had a plan to get Quirrell's turban off, which involved snowballs and runes. Everyone would be outside to see off those going home for the Christmas holidays, and a rune to unravel a thread should work well.

However, Ron's discomfort was to come first, and the five were more than ever determined to see it through, since Ron had started name calling again, and Neville called him a coward unfitted to be in Gryffindor, with no honour and the manners of the gutter. For this, Neville had received a howler from Molly Weasley. When the strident voice had finished, Neville arose, and said,

"Congratulations, Mr. Weasley. Your mother will be hearing from my Grandmother's solicitors regarding an assault on a minor, and an assault on the heir of an ancient and noble house."

"Come, now, Mr. Longbottom, surely there is no need for that? Molly is well known for her outspoken ways," the headmaster twinkled at Neville.

"Headmaster, you say outspoken ways, I say abusive, bullying and an assault. If she addressed you in the filthy terms in which she has addressed me, I suspect you might feel differently, and you are an adult. Why are there no wards to prevent howlers even getting into a school? My grandmother will be taking that up with the board of governors."

"So will my aunt," said Susan Bones, in Hufflepuff.

"And my father," said Ernie MacMillan.

"And mine," said Draco.

There were murmurs of assent from all the houses. The older students were almost used to Molly Weasley's howlers, and were just glad their own parents were not so abusive; and it was suddenly acknowledged that it was abusive.

"No normal parent publicly abuses someone else's child in such a way, where they can't even retaliate or run away," said Cedric Diggory. "I will ask my father to raise the matter at the wizengamot, that such things should be illegal."

"Well said, heir Diggory!" said Daisy. "When I have chosen my proxy, I will ask whoever it is to work with your father."

"Come now, Miss Evans, you are muggleborn, you cannot have a proxy in the Wizengamot," said Dumbledore.

"Incorrect, sir," said Daisy. "I am the senior of the last of the line of Potter, and I am also heir Peverell through my mother and my father."

"I hold the proxy for house Potter!" declared Dumbledore.

"As heir and titular head of the house of Potter, I revoke that proxy from you and bind you not to try to invoke it; so let it be," said Daisy, calmly. A swirl of magic surrounded Albus Dumledore.

"My dear little girl! You do not know what you are doing!" Dumbledore was furious.

"I know very well what I am doing," said Daisy. "I'm taking back what is mine."

Quirrelll was glaring at her, and Daisy used her blood connection to Dudley and Hermione to pulse a suggestion that they act now.

Three wordless and wandless levitation spells, which they had practised as a fallback plan, and the turban whipped off Quirrell's head. Severus saw the direction the three blazing looks were directed and had his wand out. Quirrell cried out, and so did Trelawney, who was half behind him.

"Turn round, you fool," said a high, unearthly voice.

Dumbledore shot a stunner at the figure as Quirrell turned, to show the snake-like face of Voldemort.

"Now, snakes!" called Severus.

Now the snakes knew why they had been learning a banishing spell, and all the house chanted in strong, young voices, led by Severus.

"You can't! You are mine! Traitors!" the face screamed, and then it melted into a black cloud.

Almost unnoticed, Professor Binns, who was between the wands of the determined youngsters and Quirrell, vanished with an exasperated yelp. The other ghosts had hastily withdrawn.

The chant changed, and Severus produced a jar, and drew the cloud into it.

"Severus! What are you doing?" demanded Dumbledore.

"Something Lily postulated," Severus lied, smoothly. "She felt that Tom Riddle, self-styled Lord Voldemort, had made a number of soul-anchors. This will enable curse breakers to track them and destroy them."

"You had better give it to me for safe keeping, Severus," said Dumbledore.

"Headmaster, you are many things, but your abilities in curse breaking are laughable," said Severus. "Mine are better, but I am not qualified to handle this, I have already arranged to hand this over to the Unspeakables; I spoke to Croaker last week when I realised what was going on with, er, Quirrellmort, as my snakes have dubbed him."

Albus was ashen.

"But ... but how could you ..."

"Do you really think that my children want him back? I assure you, they do not. They have all pooled information, and spoken to their parents, and Lucius has already handed another soul anchor to Croaker. Lucius, when all is said and done, is a pragmatist."

"But only I have the understanding of Tom Riddle to track them down!" cried Albus.

"I think you give yourself too much credit, headmaster," said Severus. "Other people knew him as well, and a lot of research has been done on him. I doubt, for example, that you are technomancer enough to use muggle computers to track his life in the orphanage where he grew up, or use muggle land records to find his muggle father's home and other properties."

"You have broken the Statute of Secrecy?" cried Albus.

"Don't make yourself look even sillier, Albus," said Severus. "Of course I haven't. Some of us are able to pass in the muggle world unnoticed, unlike you in your ridiculous garb of a century ago, and a bit bizarre even then."

"I always look most stylish when dressed as a muggle," said Albus, affronted.

"Stylish for 1890," said Severus. "Even Goths and New Romantics laugh at you."

Albus had no idea what New Romantics were, and thought that Goths had lived in the early middle ages.

"You should be careful, Severus, in case anyone finds out about your left arm," he said.

"I have a signed affidavit from the DMLE and the Unspeakables that any former Death Eater wishing to distance themselves who actively helps in the dealing with the self styled Lord Voldemort will be held to have expiated any crime of belonging to an illegal organisation. All these kids here just got credits for their whole families," said Severus.

"I want to help too!" cried out Gregory Goyle. "I wrote to my dad that the mudbloods in my class are smarter than the pure bloods and that Puffs are great!"

"Five points to Hufflepuff for a good sentiment if badly expressed," said Severus.

Ron, who had lost interest and was eating, was about to quaff his drink, and the five turned their attention to him.

The switching charm performed, Ron grimaced as he swallowed the foul stuff, and looked around for something to take the taste away. The look of horror on his face as he morphed into Sybil Trelawney was to die for.

"Mischief managed," said Daisy.

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And essentially it was the end of term, and they were to go home for Christmas. Severus would be staying for a couple of days, bringing Blaise Zabini who was not welcome at home as he would be in the way of his mother's brilliant parties.

Severus took the jar of what Daisy dubbed 'Eau de Mouldysocks' to the department of mysteries, and Petunia discovered what Zabini's problem was when she hugged him dutifully and he asked,

"Am I supposed to touch you and kiss you and lick you to pay for my keep here?"

It had been something Severus had suspected, but only a truly motherly hug could make him blurt it out, and Petunia let the little boy cry on her and explain all about it.

Blaise Zabini would be spending most of his holidays in Crawley.

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	3. Chapter 3

**New Year 1992**

Albus could hardly believe it. The dying husk of Quirinius Quirrell had been expertly questioned by Unspeakables, and the dark residue of Voldemort had been used to track one dark object to Little Hangleton – he had sulked about being left out of finding it, since he was sure it was the Peverell ring – one in Hogwarts itself and one in Albania. One was in the Black House in London, which was too well warded to get into easily, and the other was somewhere in Gringotts.

Here entered Narcissa Black Malfoy, who graciously opened the Black house in Grimmauld Place and ordered the crazy elf there to fetch the locket. She tried to insist in the bank that she was head of the house of Black, and was told that this was Sirius Black, until such time as he was convicted of any crimes he was accused of.

Reluctantly, Albus allowed Croaker to persuade him to open the file on Sirius Black in the Wizengamot, and despite Fudge's obfuscation, the man was found innocent when questioned under veritaserum.

Getting the half-crazed man to co-operate in disowning Bellatrix in order to get into her vault was not so easy.

It was a while before the search came to Griphook's ears when Severus finally managed to get a situation update from Croaker, as Albus wasn't sharing.

And Griphook sighed, and asked Ragnok to invoke the treaty banning wizards from keeping dangerous items in their vaults. This produced the cup in double quick time, and Albus and Croaker were both left with egg on their faces.

"You see, Albus, so much more gets done with teamwork and sharing information than hugging it to yourself," said Severus. "When had you been planning on going after the horcruxes?"

"When I was sure that was what they were," said Albus.

"The one from Harry latched briefly into his uncle, and the goblins were able to examine it," said Severus. "As they could have done when Harry was a baby."

Albus was appalled.

"I've failed," he whispered. "Like I failed my own family." He was grey.

"Albus, you wear too many hats," said Severus, bluntly. "If you used influence rather than trying to directly manipulate people, you'd irritate fewer people and get further. And you've probably lost any chance of influence with Daisy Evans, so don't even try."

"It doesn't matter now," said Albus. "If they are all gone. I ... I would have liked to have held the Peverell ring."

"It goes by rights to the Evans family," said Severus. "Once the Unspeakables have figured out a way to destroy all the anchors."

"I fear fiendfyre may be the only way," sighed Albus.

"It's to hold in reserve," said Severus. "They are looking at runic banishment at the moment."

"So long as they destroy them before he can come back," said Albus.

"Unless his consciousness breaks out of my unbreakable jar, that shouldn't happen," said Severus.

No disaster should be ascribed to malice which can be explained by total incompetence.

Minister Fudge was inspecting the Unspeakable offices, and someone turned away long enough to permit him to unscrew a jar with some kind of dark vapour in it.

Croaker apologised to Severus, Albus and the Malfoys, who had put most into the searches.

"I believe Minister Fudge is due for retirement," said Lucius Malfoy, who was white. "I have put my life and free will on the line seeking these items, and the stupid little lackwit has put me – and you, Severus – in jeopardy. Not to mention vassals and allies of mine."

"If you were planning on assassinating him, that toad in a pink cardigan can go too," growled Severus, who had been at the receiving end of Undersecretary Umbridge's attempts to find out what was going on.

"Severus!" Albus' tone was disappointed.

"Albus, how many people has she killed through poking Fudge into opening that jar, because I wager she told him to do it," said Severus. "When Riddle returns he will be kill-happy. He has at least one loyal servant if Black is to be believed, in Peter Pettigrew, and possibly others. I don't trust the parents of all my snakes to turn away from him if push comes to shove, mostly the more minor ones who will see the defection of the Malfoys and their ilk as a way to rise. Richard Parkinson is too stupid to see the arguments, and Theodore Nott senior too venal. I could name a few others. I calculate he'll have around ten followers. It's a cadre."

"All we can do is be vigilant," said Lucius. "And I wasn't planning on assassinating anyone, Albus, unless you count character assassination, which is more fun to do anyway."

"Well, I suppose you will do that efficiently, Lucius," sighed Albus. "He always was a pompous little know-it-all at school."  
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The case of Longbottom vs Weasley meanwhile had passed Albus by, which was just as well as he would have tried to meddle. He might be aware of his hubris, but that did not mean he was about to change overnight.

Molly Weasley was found to be guilty but not sane, and was ordered to spend time with mind healers. She threw a tantrum at this, and the Wizengamot ordered her school-age children removed from her until she was ready to submit to treatment for her excessive temper and unstable nature. Muriel Prewett was not found to be a suitable guardian, and the four youngest Weasleys found themselves bound over into the care of Madam Augusta Longbottom, with visiting rights for their father and brothers.

Ronald had the hardest time, since if he did not eat in a mannerly fashion, the Longbottom elves took his food away. He was dosed with nutrition potions to make up for any missed meals. Ron started learning how to eat with a bit more care inside two days. Madam Longbottom promised him that one of her elves would go back to Hogwarts with him to help him in his furtherance of gentlemanly behaviour. Ron almost passed out at this kindly promise.

He also had his mouth washed out with the saponification spell several times for the way he badmouthed people.

Percy also found it hard; Augusta gave him a few pithy lectures on his attitude as a hypocrite, and his feelings of shame towards his parents for their lack of money when he tried to suck up to her. Augusta had no time for brown-noses, and said so in as many words.

Augusta drilled all the younger Weasleys in how to behave as behoved pure bred young gentlemen and ladies, and Ginevra was not looking forward to being alone with the austere old woman when her brothers went back to school. Especially as Augusta promised that they would have fun alone with girl time. Ginny was terrified about what that might mean!

As it happened, what it meant was learning to dance, sew, make over her own robes, cook and prepare potions. Ginny had watched her mother cooking and preparing potions, but had never been allowed to join in, being 'too young'. Being able to make her own robes so her meagre money went further was a revelation, and Augusta fished out robes belonging to Alice from trunks in the attics to make over in more modern styles. Dancing was fun, and Madam Longbottom permitted her free time in the extensive grounds, and unlike Neville, permitted her to fly, which is more than her own mother had done. Augusta had only prevented Neville from flying because she feared his magical core was insufficient to keep him up, and he might harm himself. The new wand, which he had let on about, was a revelation to her, and she had apologised to him for not getting him one straight away. She also wrote punctiliously to thank Severus for arranging it.

Neville had not been best pleased to have to have Ron Weasley over the holidays, but his grandmother did not make them share a room, and it was funny seeing Ron being made to mind. When Augusta fished out a very ancient pensieve and made Ron watch his own memories to see how badly he had behaved, he rather shamefacedly apologised to Neville.

"Apologise to Millie as well, in public, and I'll accept it," said Neville.

Ron swallowed. He had endured a lecture about how he would have felt if it had been Ginny on the receiving end. He had also endured a lecture from the painting of a shared Weasley and Longbottom ancestor, who had been a Slytherin.

Madam Longbottom had also hired a Mind Healer to work with the children to help them deal with the smothering and yet abusive relationship they had with their mother.

Ron had learned a lot about himself, and he nodded.

Neville would never make a friend of Ron, but he could go back to Gryffindor Tower.

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Severus steeled himself to visit Sirius in St Mungos, and was shocked at the condition of the man.

"Is that old Snivellous?" asked Sirius.

"Believe it or not, I grew up," said Severus. "Well, you've more than paid for trying to get the wolf and me killed, by a long way."

Sirius frowned.

"Never meant to get anyone killed. Wanted to see you run. Didn't ... James told me later. 'm sorry."

Severus stiffened. Black didn't apologise.

He nodded.

"Apology accepted," he said. It was hard to do anything but pity this poor creature. But there was no way that he could be trusted with the secret of Daisy Potter Evans. The poor bastard would have to go on believing his godson was dead.

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On the train back to Hogwarts, the trio decided to let Millie and Neville in on their secret, and as Blaise was plainly good at keeping secrets, and was likely to become a spare brother, they cut him in too.

"We'd like you to work on your occlumensy," said Dudley, as the three sat, open mouthed. "The headmaster uses legilimensy."

"Don't I know," said Neville. "I reckon we've all learned the basics, most purebloods do, but he has tried to slide into my head more than once, and I've got away with it because he doesn't dare be too overt, by cataloguing types of dung."

Daisy laughed.

"Mione does calculations," she said. "I use brute force. But Professor Snape has been helping us all."

"Perhaps he'll help us," said Neville.

"More than likely," said Dudley. "The headmaster kinda sorta acknowledged he was wrong, but y'know, I doubt he's going to stop prying into people's heads, that sort of thing gets to be a habit."

"And I think his lemon drops are dosed with calming draught and truth potions," said Hermione. "He takes his from a saucer behind the ones left out for kids."

They all exchanged glances.

"Switching spell," they chorused. Next to the summoning spell, it had to be the most useful spell there was.

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Ron Weasley, very red of face, went across to the Slytherin table at the feast. McGonagall frowned, and half rose.

"Millie, I'm sorry I was such an arse to you," said Ron, loudly. "I was out of line. I ... I'm sorry."

"Thank you, Mr. Weasley, I accept your apology," said Millie. "I hope there will be more cordial relations between our houses."

"Yeah," said Ron. He went and sat down.

"That was well done, Mr. Weasley," said McGonagall.

It was noted that Ron's table manners were much improved, and Dean Thomas asked,

"Who are you and where have you hidden Ron?"

"It is me, I'm not under polyjuice," said Ron, defensively.

"Huh, I guess in the wizarding world, that question is actually able to be taken seriously," said Dean. "Muggleborn, remember? In the muggle world, it's a way of saying someone is acting out of character."

"Oh, right," said Ron. "Well, I got a bit of a forcible education over the holidays with Aunt Augusta, Madam Longbottom, and ... well, I guess she was right. We had to see mind healers over Mum's behaviour, and it was kinda scary that ... that Ginny and I were damaged."

"Cripes!" said Dean. "I know my Mum wouldn't send those howler things, but I kinda thought wizards might just be rude because they can be."

"Some are," said Fred, leaning over. "But our Mum is sick, they told us that it was post-traumatic stress disorder from when her brothers were murdered by Voldemort, and nobody treated her for it when it happened, and it got worse. So this is the first and only warning, our Mum is sick, not nasty, and we won't take any insults to her unanswered. Trouble is, she has to realise she's sick," he added sadly. "Dad is working with her, and with advice from the healers."

Arthur Weasley was actually delighted to be working with a muggleborn who had returned to the muggle world to study as a psychiatrist, using passive legilimensy and cheering charms surreptitiously to help his muggle patients. Muggles had a lot more experience of dealing with PTSD.

Neville nodded to Fred.

"Understood, mate," he said. "But I still think there should be a ward to stop Howlers coming into a school."

It was something Augusta Longbottom and Emma Granger were going to be presenting to the other governors. Emma had taken up her position as Lady Prince on the Board, asking Severus to be her proxy at the Wizengamot. Emma did not enjoy politics. Dan was representing himself and House Potter, and Severus had accepted proxy too of House Peverelll. Petunia had no desire to be on display in public.

Albus had accepted that he had lost Daisy's trust, and if he was sore about it, he was also well aware that he only had himself to blame. The discovery of all the horcruxes was enough to buoy him up, even if Tom Riddle's spirit was free to take some other form. With luck, all the horcruxes would be destroyed before he could use any kind of ritual to reform a body. Certainly the side of light was ahead of the game, just in having control of them all. And now the Potter will was opened, Albus could have some measure of control over Remus Lupin, in being instrumental in getting him his legacy. Albus conveniently forgot that sealing the will had robbed the werewolf of his legacy in the first place. It had been for the Greater Good at the time; who knew that they would need Black to get at a horcrux. And Remus had agreed to teach Defense against the Dark Arts until the end of the year, and Andromeda Tonks was filling in to teach history. It was all, thought Albus, going better than anyone might have hoped.

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Daisy was not expecting to be treated to some hostility by the new DADA teacher. She was looking forward to learning something more than Quirrell had been able to teach, but to receive an amber-eyed glare from the new teacher was a little unsettling.

He was a good teacher, though he never picked her to answer a question, and Daisy marched up to him after class.

"Sir, do you have a problem with me? Because if so, it would help to know what it is."

"You don't know what it is? You claim your mother had a fling with James Potter, who would never have betrayed Lily. And how come you look like Lily? There's something very fishy about you, that's my problem with you."

Daisy shrugged.

"The heritance test the goblins gave put me as head of House Potter. I am the child of an Evans witch. Some looks breed true, I guess. We tried and tried to contact you, as a friend of James and Lily Potter, but you didn't want to be found. You didn't even write to Harry Potter after he was left alone in the world, so don't you think it's a bit hypocritical to turn round and act like my existence is an affront when you did nothing to save your supposed best friend's son?"

Remus recoiled as though he had been slapped; the girl was angry, he could smell it. And ... she smelled very much like Harry.

"Albus... Professor Dumbledore ... told me not to write," he said. "He said Harry should know nothing of the wizarding world too early."

"No, Fumblebum wanted him at school socially inept and without friends because he was ignorant of wizarding etiquette so dear old Granddad Whiskers was his only friend, and he could confide in him, and set him up as a sacrifice as the way to kill the horcrux in his head," said Daisy, who eavesdropped shamelessly on her elders. "Just like he set you up as the token werewolf to be grateful for your education."

Remus paled.

"Are you blackmailing me about my condition?" he asked, harshly.

"Whatever for? Everyone knows, don't they?" asked Daisy.

"Of course they don't," snapped Remus, and could have bitten his tongue, he had just handed the Slytherin brat blackmail material.

Daisy shrugged.

"Oh, well, if you're sensitive about it, I won't mention it, but really? It's a disease. It gives you monthlies that make what normal girls have look mild. Not that I know yet, thank goodness, but why would anyone care?"

"You don't care?"

"No, and Mum was looking for you to hire you as a tutor for Dud and Mione and me, but the only time an owl reached you, you blew her off."

"I ... your mother is Petunia Evans? But she's not a witch."

Daisy could have cursed.

"It's a family name," she said.

"Well, I didn't want to have anything to do with someone who I knew had hurt Lily. That's why I returned the letter unopened."

"And if you thought it was Lily's sister, who had care of Harry, that means you were blowing off Harry too, oh very caring to your honourary nephew," sneered Daisy. "Well, sir, I guess I know where I am with you; you know your subject, and I will do my best to learn for my own protection, but plainly you're as shallow as the rest of the Marauders." She stalked out, brushing the back of her hand across her eyes angrily. Memories of 'Unca Moony' had filled her when she first saw Remus, and she had hoped to build a relationship with him.

She ran into Severus on the way back to the dungeons.

"Daisy? What's wrong?"

"The bloody wolf," said Daisy.

"What's he done?" Severus' tone was low and dangerous.

"Oh, nothing really, sir, it's what he didn't do, how he never looked me up when I was Harry, and how he never even sent a birthday card and how he blew off Mum Petunia when she tried to contact him, because he didn't like her, and it might have been that she needed him for Harry ... and ... oh, he's just a self-righteous, hypocritical git."

"Some things don't change," said Severus. "Don't worry about him, Daisy-flower."

"No, sir. I ... I remembered him as Unca Moony. It hurt."

Severus ruffled her hair.

"Better to know now, than to build a friendship and then be let down," he said.

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The other new teacher, Madam Tonks, was a distinct improvement on Professor Binns.

"Mind you," said Daisy to Blaise, when he commented on this, "Ozzie Osbourne would be an improvement on Binns, as he's only dead from the neck up."

"Who is Ozzy Osbourne?"

"He's a bit like the Weird Sisters if they were out of their heads on a mix of alihotsy and confundus gas," said Daisy.

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It might be said that Remus was fairly impressed by the abilities of some of the class Daisy was in, a group of largely Slytherin, with the surprising inclusion of Neville Longbottom. He was amazed to see Daisy, duelling Neville in a practical session, use a switching charm to switch his wand for a piece of chalk she had in her hand, and Neville quickly chalked a rune on his hand and held it up to shield from Daisy's follow-up tickling charm.

"Oh, very nice, Nev, you've been talking to 'Mione," said Daisy. "It's only good for a one-use, though."

" _Accio_ wand!" said Neville, his wand flying back to him. "You talk too much, Daisy, and that's to my advantage."

Remus halted the duel.

"Those were very creative uses of everyday spells," he said. "Five points each to Gryffindor and Slytherin. Have you any idea how advanced the summoning charm and switching charms are? And that runes are not taught until the third year?"

"That's what library work is for," said Daisy.

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It was coming up to Valentine's day, and the Slytherin five, Blaise being now included, together with Neville and the Weasley twins, had planned a prank which involved a lot of distraction being run on the castle elves, whilst those who were best at wand-work confounded the jam tarts which were to be served as dessert. It should be a very messy and apposite jape for the day, and they wandered into the grounds happily, ready to point and giggle at anyone going into Hogsmeade as a couple.

As they were approaching the black lake, a big black dog came galloping up.

"Nice doggy, sit!"

The dog blurred into a human.

"Lily? What are you doing in Slytherin robes?"

"My name is Daisy Evans, sir, who are you and why were you being a dog?"

"Daisy? No, it's Lily ... I'm looking for James ... I mean, Harry."

"I think you're confused, sir," said Daisy. "Should there be anyone with you?"

A cunning look crossed the blue eyes.

"I gave them the slip," he said. "Lily, you tell me where Harry is, right now!" he pointed his wand at her.

Several young voices shouted, " _Expelliarmus!_ " as taught by Lupin. The wand flew towards them, and Sirius Black was knocked back. Daisy wished Professor Snape was here; he'd know what to do. They all backed away from the hollow-eyed animagus who was suddenly angry and shouting incoherently about slimy snakes.

And then Professor Snape arrived.

" _Incarcerous!"_ he cried, and ropes wrapped Black.

"Snivellous!" cried Black.

"Don't you call him that, you bitch!" said Daisy.

Severus could not help it; he laughed.

"Black, I think you lost that round of insults," he said. "Come on, you shouldn't be here. Let me take you to Poppy Pomfrey, and we'll get you back to St Mungo's."

"Looking for James ... Harry," slurred Black. "What's Lily doing here?"

"The child does bear a remarkable resemblance to Lily, doesn't she? but she's not Lily," said Severus.

"You're angry with me because I fed you to Moony. Only wanted to make you run."

"No, I'm not, I forgave you; you apologised," said Severus, evenly. "It was a long time ago. Black, if I let you out, will you walk with me to the infirmary?"

"Looking for Harry," said Black, stubbornly.

Severus sighed, and fired a stunner at him, and used levicorpus to take the insane animagus to Poppy Pomfrey.

He returned to his little group of admiring fans.

"Don't be hard on him; you have no idea how awful the effects of Dementors can be," he said.

"Did he really feed you to a werewolf?" Daisy was profoundly shocked. "Werewolves have no control at the full moon unless they have wolfsbane, and that's quite a recent discovery. We want to improve on it for our friend Lucy."

"That child is a werewolf?" Severus was taken aback, he had assumed the child Petunia was home schooling was too poor for Hogwarts and would not accept help.

"Yes, sir, and it's not fair," said Hermione.

"Well, I'm brewing wolfsbane for ... you children _know?"_

"About Professor Lupin? Of course," said Daisy. "I'm glad you're brewing for him, it means we'll all be safe because you're the tops."

Severus laughed.

"Well, I shall endeavour to be better, to help your friend, though I'm no great friend of Professor Lupin. But even as you are used to your friend Lucy, so Sirius Black was used to his friend, and he thought it would be a joke to send me to where Lupin was used to hole up for the full moon. He has apologised, and I put it behind me. James Potter saved my life by fetching me," he added.

"I'm glad he did some things right," said Daisy.

"I think it's what made him grow up, and why Lily liked him," said Severus, trying to hide the pain he felt at having lost Lily.

"I guess there would have to be something," said Daisy. "Oh, and sir, don't have the jam tart tonight."

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By the time it was time for dinner, they had forgotten all about mad dogs and werewolves, and were waiting in deep anticipation for the fruition of their prank.

It exceeded expectations.

The heart-shaped jam tarts were standard fare as afters on a Valentine's Day, and the school all reached for them hungrily. As soon as they were touched, however, the tarts leaped up and made full on snogging noises, grinding their jam lovingly all over the faces of their victims. The conspirators watched with great enjoyment before enacting their own snogging tarts. Everyone was covered in jam, with expressions between shock and outrage. Minerva McGonagall was actually sitting with her mouth open in shock, and the headmaster was blinking in surprise. Having been forewarned, Professor Snape was eating tart which had already been treated to a _finite incantatem,_ with a sardonic look on his face. Lupin was laughing and so was Professor Tonks, and Professor Flitwick.

"Beautifully done," squeaked Professor Flitwick. "Delightful charm work!"

"Severus! You knew!" accused Minerva. "You already took the charms off!"

"Or maybe my virginity is just unassailable," said Severus.

He had considered avoiding the tart, but to eat it without being snogged really was far better for his reputation. And just because improving his teaching skills had made him less unpopular that was no reason to let anyone think he was a soft touch.

Except those of his little snakes who needed it, of course.

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Sirius Black did improve somewhat, under the care of the healers, and Albus judged it time to let him know that Harry Potter was dead.

He delegated this less than stellar task to Remus Lupin.

The werewolf managed to confide the official news to his old friend, stating that this was the official news.

Sirius was astute enough not to fall apart when Remus used such careful wording.

"What do you mean?" he asked, sharply.

"Sirius, do you for one moment believe that James would shag Petunia, or even a cousin of Lily's who was also named Petunia?" he asked.

"Never! He was devoted to Lily," said Sirius.

"Right, and that's what I think," said Remus. "And the girl, Daisy, smells like Harry. Her brother, much less so. I think someone has used a spell to turn Harry into Daisy to hide her from Voldemort."

Sirius frowned.

"Dumbledore?"

"I don't know, but if it is him, I ... I am not sure I trust him any more. Daisy said to me that I was the token werewolf given education so as to trust him, and that if Harry turned up at school knowing nothing of the Wizarding World, he'd have nobody to turn to but Dumbledore."

Sirius paced up and down a few times, frowning.

"Dumbledore knew I wasn't the secret keeper," he said. "Right. So we don't trust Dumbledore, who do we trust? How can we find out?"

"You won't like it, but I think we may have to trust Severus," said Lupin.

"Trusting Snivellus? That'll be the day hell freezes," scoffed Sirius. "Though he did accept my apology and he could have been rougher with me when I got out and went to Hogwarts, I suppose."

"He's careful with my wolfsbane, and has been trying improvements in it for me," said Lupin. "And I've seen him with the Evans kids, and he's taking good care of them."

"I can't believe she's a snake," said Sirius.

"Narcissa has been decent to you and she used to be a snake," said Remus.

"I suppose," said Sirius. "You think Sn .. Severus," he changed the word as Remus frowned at him, "knows about Daisy being Harry? If that is true?"

"Dumbledore might have had him brew a potion," said Remus. "I think we can't hurt asking Severus, perhaps in the Easter holidays."

"He's a head of house; he'll be in school for the OWL and NEWT students."

"Then we'll ask to meet him in the Hog's Head," said Remus.

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Severus headed for the meeting he had been invited to in the Hog's Head, glad that he had finally got the last cauldron to stop burping. Six first years had served detention for managing to cast the eructus charm on the school's cauldrons, and it had been somewhat disruptive, particularly since the burps tended to carry the odour of whatever had been brewed last. The small silver cauldron, just to be perverse, had been farting instead, but also said 'pardon me' each time. As the Weasley twins had been amongst those affected, Severus had been less put out, since those inveterate pranksters needed the odd touch of own back.

Daisy and friends had cheerfully served their detentions, and had written him a long essay on why spells which could be used sometimes should not be used.

He was wary about meeting the two former Marauders, but he knew that Daisy was upset about being looked at oddly by Remus, and perhaps this would be something that would clear the air, and he could get the wolf to treat the child on her own merits.

Severus walked in, and over to the table where the two men were nursing a pint each. One was slapped down for him by Aberforth Dumbledore, and then Remus was putting up privacy wards.

"Okay, S...Severus, we'll cut to the chase, is Daisy really Harry in disguise?" asked Sirius.

"Do you really think I'd tell someone else's secrets to you two even if she was?" asked Severus, coolly.

"Look, this is about protecting the kid," said Remus. "I was put out at first, but I'm more and more convinced that Harry's smell is on her, and we have reasons not to trust the headmaster, so if you are doing something in blind faith in him, hear us out."

Severus grinned, startling them both.

"Well _finally,_ " he said. "No, I don't trust the headmaster either, because he has his own agenda. He may be sorry for royally screwing some things up, but it isn't going to stop him trying to be a puppet master. Why do you think he brought you in, Lupin? He wanted you to worship the Lily Potter lookalike. But she's not Lily, she's Daisy, and she's her own person."

"I'm glad you realise that, Snape," said Sirius. "But who is she?"

"I'm not about to answer that," said Severus. "I don't have her permission. But if you ask her nicely, Lupin, and explain why you are asking, she might tell you for herself. Was there anything else?"

"Yeah, how come she trusts you?"

"Because she extorted a vow on my magic that I would protect her," said Severus. "I'm very proud of Daisy Evans, she's all that a Slytherin should be, smart, cunning, wary but loyal to her own."

"I was surprised to see Slytherin mixing in all house study groups," said Remus.

"That could be to do with all my little snakes chanting to exorcise the spirit of Tommy Riddle," said Severus. "I shared a few home truths with them. What, Black, you didn't think Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa would come over to support the light side without a good pragmatic reason, did you?"

"I did wonder," said Sirius.

"Well, one thing I will share with you, because many heads are better than few when a problem needs a solution," said Severus, and explained about horcruxes.

"Daisy said something about Harry needing to be killed, and Albus setting him up for it," said Remus.

"Yes, well, that one happened by accident as you might say. But the Unspeakables are taking their own sweet time to destroy the rest," said Severus.

"Why not chuck 'em through the veil of death in the Department of Mysteries?" suggested Sirius.

"Because they are too concerned with preserving the diadem of Ravenclaw, the locket of Slytherin and the cup of Hufflepuff to actually get around to removing their heads from up their backsides," said Severus. "Mind you, at that, I'm not sure it hasn't gone quicker than leaving it in Albus' lackadaisical hands."

"I suppose if they at least have them ..." said Remus, "He can't reform."

"News for you," said Severus. "That idiot, Fudge, let out the soul fragment I had captured with the help of my snakes."

"Now I understand why Malfoy is undermining him so viciously," said Sirius. "How could he be so stupid?"

"If I could answer a difficult question like that, I would be able to perform miracles that would make Merlin look like a muggle," said Severus. "Fudge is a man who can barely talk and breathe at the same time, and he dances to the piping of the toad in a cardigan who is his second in command."

"Oh, yes, I've met Umbitch," said Sirius. "Is Malfoy going to have her assassinated?"

"Probably not; Albus got all twitchy at the idea," said Severus. "Pity, but there you are."

"You know what? You aren't as bad as I thought you were," said Sirius.

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"Miss Evans ... Daisy ..."

"Professor Lupin?"

"I was wondering if we could have a long, frank talk."

"I thought we already did that."

"I ... I considered what you said, and you were right. I let Harry down. I believed Albus Dumbledore. I ... have always been grateful to him."

"It's how he operates," said Daisy. "He engineers bad situations, and then makes like he's Santa Claus, Merlin and Gandalf all rolled into one, feeding people on calming draughts and veritaserum, reading their thoughts and twinkling at them like something out of Disney."

"I didn't follow all of that, but I think I got the gist. Do you really suspect him of soaking his sweeties in calming draughts and veritaserum? That's a big accusation."

"Oh, I don't suspect him of it, I took one once, and pretended to eat it, and I got Professor Snape to analyse it," said Daisy.

"Merlin's beard!" Lupin was taken aback.

"It's why he grows one, you know; to look like Merlin," said Daisy. "Was there anything else?"

"I want to apologise for the way I acted towards you; I was overwrought," said Lupin.

"Very well; I accept," said Daisy.

"I also want to ask you if you will trust me enough, and my friend, Sirius, to tell us if you really are Harry Potter in disguise."

Daisy regarded him levelly.

"I'm not in disguise," she said. "But as you were close friends of the Potters, I will take advice from Mum and Dad and from Professor Snape about whether I should tell you more about Harry Potter. It would mean an unbreakable vow not to tell Dumbledore or anyone else without permission."

"That's understood. Will you let me know when you have decided?"

"I will, but I need to write home as well as consulting Professor Snape."

"You trust him a lot."

"He's been here for me, for all of us, since we started school. Bad things go on in some Slytherin families, you know, and he has to be the father to a lot of kids who don't properly have one."

"I suppose that hadn't occurred to me," said Lupin, softly.

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Petunia, Griphook and the Grangers came to school to discuss matters with Severus, who had contacted them when Daisy confided to him that Lupin had more or less guessed.

"I'm inclined to the view that allies are good," said Severus. "The Marauders were infinitely loyal to each other – until Pettigrew betrayed them, which I would not have guessed at. James could be cruel; I suppose he teased Pettigrew too hard too many times. It drove me to take the dark mark. And if Black, who is good with runes, can help with the ideas the children had to remove it, I would be very happy to owe him a debt. If Fudge hadn't let that soul go free, I would have been more chary, but he did, and that means Daisy is in danger. If they will protect her as well, it would help."

"So long as they don't get in a huff because she changed of her own free will," said Griphook. "The portrait of James took a lot of persuading to accept it, and I caught him asking when Harry is going to change back."

"It's the same in the muggle world," said Petunia. "If a kid is gay, a lot of parents have trouble with that, never mind if they are transgender and want to have a sex change. I'd be a bit shocked if Dudley suddenly wanted to be a girl."

"Yuk, and have periods? No thanks," said Dudley. "It'd be worse than being a werewolf, 'cos girls at that time bite too."

"Very little is worse than being a werewolf, but your aversion towards gender conversion is duly noted," said Severus. "Very well, I'll tell him to get Sirius to apparate in and we will meet in my office. It has no portraits so no reports are taken to the headmaster."

"Wait, the portraits report?" asked Dan.

"Yes, they are obliged to," said Severus.

"Suppose we had Potter family portraits, which belonged to the kids, could they report to Crawley if they needed us?" asked Dan.

"They need a second portrait of themselves to go to," said Severus. "The portrait of Headmaster Phineas Nigellus Black can go to the portrait of himself in the Ministry, and presumably to others in the Black family house. They can only slip into other portraits in the building they are in."

"Well, that's a potential tactical advantage," said Dan.

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Sirius was developing a relationship with Kreacher, who, once he found out that Sirius knew about the locket horcrux, was more forthcoming.

"Listen, Kreacher, we're allied with Cissy now, and I suppose I shall have to be civil to Lucius, his job bringing down Fudge is being made harder by that Umbridge woman. I want to make sure Lucius has an alibi, and then go and kill her," said Sirius. "You don't like my werewolf friend, but I do, and I object to how she wants to make his life harder. Besides, I suspect she wants all elves to work for the ministry."

"She shall die, Master," said Kreacher, cracking his knuckles. "Only losers work in the Ministry, so there's no family magics to help sustain elves."

"She would probably like elves to die out," said Sirius.

"That would not be good," said Kreacher. "How do you want to kill her?"

"Well, I was thinking of killing her in a muggle fashion so there's no magical signature," said Sirius.

Kreacher cackled.

"Master really would have been worthy of Slytherin House," he said.

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When the two Marauders approached Severus' office they saw that the usual austere wizard who guarded the doorway had been replaced by a photo of the now six friends, who started singing 'Who let the dogs out? WOOF! WOOF!' as the Marauders faced them.

Once in the office, if they were surprised to see six children as well as five adults, including Griphook, they hid it well, and Remus asked,

"Surely you kids didn't manage to make it sing just for us?"

"Why not?" said Hermione, huffily. "It's only a bit of Waffling logic, after all, to set up the conditions, it's a simple 'and' gate."

Sirius roared with laughter.

"Your face, Remus, is even funnier than the jape on us; and which of us was it who was dabbling in Arithmancy and spell crafting in the first year?"

Remus gave a gentle smile.

"It took me a couple of years to discover the power of Waffling logic, however," he said. "Congratulations, Miss Granger. We were pranked by worthy successors to the Marauders."

"Please sit down," said Daisy. "We hoped a gentle prank would give us a ... a more mellow atmosphere because of what I have to tell you." She explained how she had become Daisy to appease Petunia at first, and how when Vernon had died, they had sought an escape, and met the Grangers, and performed a blood ritual, with the aid of Griphook. She held fast to Dudley's and Hermione's hands as she spoke.

Lupin frowned towards Petunia.

"If you had to be like Lily to appease Petunia, I can't see how you are happy to call her 'Mum'," he said.

"It's called 'Stockholm Syndrome'," said Hermione. "An abused person or a prisoner under torture begins to relate to their abuser, and can become an abuser under their control. Aunt Petunia had been abused by Vernon Dursley, and when Daisy became Daisy, the mental shock was enough to permit her to break away, and become the person she should have been. I read all about it because I was worried about it too, and Mummy helped me find out about it."

"Oh!" said Remus.

"I was a jealous little idiot when I was young," said Petunia. "And I was nasty to Sev, who was nasty back, as kids will be. I grew up, and so did he. I suppose James must have grown up somewhat but I never liked him. We went to the wedding and he turned me into a crocodile in a cloak, and made Vernon into a hippo in a ballet dress."

"Like the ones in Disney's 'Fantasia', the 'dance of the hours'?" asked Daisy. "Wicked, those crocs are so cool!"

"Not when you're not used to magic," said Petunia. "And I don't think he was calling me cool, you know."

"James could be cruel," said Remus, apologetically. "I do remember the hippo. I'm afraid I laughed. He had said some pretty nasty things about Lily."

"I was trying to reconcile with her," said Petunia, tears gathering in her eyes. Griphook put an arm around her.

"Don't take it to heart, Pet, there'll be time for the reconciliations beyond the veil in due course," he said.

"And an eternity of pranking Peter," said Sirius, grimly. "And let us not forget that he is still at large."

"He'll get his, some day," said Remus. "Well, I was pretty sure my nose didn't lie; brave of you to come out and tell us all that, Daisy. And if you are comfortable being Daisy, then that's nobody else's business, and Sirius is still your godfather, right?"

"Is he?" asked Daisy.

"Wait, he's a sworn godfather?" demanded Severus. "Then why in hell would anyone ever think he might have been responsible for James and Lily's deaths, which was bound to harm his godson?"

"I'm obviously missing something in the Wizarding World," said Petunia.

"A sworn godfather places his life and magic at the protection of his godchild," said Severus.

"Oh hell! Sirius, if I'd known that, I'd have tried to get you freed sooner," said Petunia. "In the muggle world, a godparent may be taken seriously by practising Christians, but is usually just a title to give a dutch uncle a bit more family status and they are expected to buy birthday presents."

Sirius shrugged.

"You didn't know. Remus should have done."

Remus hung his head.

"I know. I ... I thought ... no, I didn't think, I followed orders and did and believed what Dumbledore told me to do and believe. I'm an omega; it's what omegas do."

"Well if you want to be part of my pack, you'll have to stop being an omega and step up to being a beta," said Daisy, seriously. "I've researched wolves and there's no need for you to be omega."

"I will do my best," said Remus. "Being angry at being manipulated is helping."

"And I want to be your pack too," said Sirius. "Am I disappointed to have a goddaughter to replace my godson? Yes, a little, but my goddaughter is a grand Marauder, and I accept Dudley as my godson as well, if you would like that, Petunia."

"I would be honoured," said Petunia. A waft of golden magic surrounded Sirius and Dudley, encompassing Daisy as well.

"Sworn and witnessed," said Griphook.

"Right, what do we do next?" asked Sirius.

"Research in the library in Grimmauld Place for anything about horcruxes, I suggest," said Severus. "If you'll let us in during holidays, and Griphook and Dan at other times, we can all help. Teamwork found them. If we can find another way to destroy them, without destroying the physical hosts, the Unspeakables will be happy."

"What's wrong with the chant you used to get Voldemort out of Quirrell?" asked Daisy.

"It only works with a spirit bound in a living host," said Severus. "It would have removed the horcrux from you, probably, before you expelled it by changing ... ah, Sirius, you need to know this," as he saw the dog animagus' eyes fill with angry questions. Quickly he explained.

"And Fumblebum's idea was to let me be AK'd by Voldemort," said Daisy. "Professor Snape got him to admit to it, and I heard him telling Mum."

"Little pitchers have big ears," growled Severus.

"I don't like being a mushroom," said Daisy.

"What?" asked Remus

"Kept in the dark and fed shit," said Daisy.

"Well, you're turning the tables nicely on the headmaster," said Sirius, in some satisfaction. "Research it is, then, and support if he comes back."

"When." Said Severus.

"What?"

"When he comes back. Not if. Even if the horcruxes are destroyed, if he has any kind of vessel to inhabit, he has some kind of life. Destroying them all will only make sure that he can't come back yet again. And that's if they are destroyed before he does it."

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The study group remained loyal, across houses, and became known as The Daisy Chain, since it was largely Daisy who made it happen. Albus was disgruntled that Remus smiled gently and disclaimed any influence with Daisy and her friends.

"I did hope you would be able to form a special bond with Miss Evans, as she looks so much like Lily," said Albus.

"To be honest, at first, I found it offputting, Headmaster," said Remus.

"How could it be offputting?" Albus stared.

"You forget, Headmaster, that she may look like Lily, but her smell is entirely different," said Remus. "I am a creature for whom scent is more important than sight, and seeing the wrong face on the smell made my hackles rise. I've got over it; Daisy is herself and I am reconciled to it. But it started the relationship on the wrong foot."

He did not say that the frank meeting had gone a long way to correct that wrong footing.

"I'm disappointed, my dear boy," said Dumbledore.

Remus shrugged.

"You knew my affliction when you invited me into education; you know that the wolf has a lot of control, even outside of the time of the month. I presume that is why you have not repeated the experiment with other werewolf children."

"After the fiasco Sirius caused it seemed unwise."

"Ah, yes, of course," said Remus. "At least Sirius appears to have grown up, now he's largely recovered from ten unnecessary years in Azkaban, though I have to say that if I ever find out who was responsible for sealing the wills of Lily and James which led to that, and to my unnecessary aging for not being able to afford wolfsbane potion, that individual is going to wish that being bitten is the very least of his worries. It was an attack on all my pack, and the howl of outrage inside me will be likely to release when I discover whom to blame."

Albus almost panicked at this and had to work hard not to piss himself. Remus' grey eyes had gone totally amber, and his teeth had elongated. Remus was normally so mild-mannered that it was hard to remember that he was a five-star dark creature at times, and even outside of his time of change was dangerous to cross if pack was involved. It was why Albus had told him not to contact Harry, since if Remus had had any inkling of the way Harry was treated by the Dursleys, he would have gone berserk and ripped them to shreds, never mind what he would do to the person who had placed Harry there. Albus had thought Remus cowed by the disappearance and probable death of Harry Potter, but he had forgotten that the wolf might just be out for revenge.

"Bureaucracy, you know ..." he said.

"No," said Remus. "Sealing the wills was done by someone who had an idea what was in them; another traitor. I consider that whoever did that must have been working for Voldemort."

Albus had another urge to use the toilet.

He had no idea that terrorising him was a little bit of Marauder style payback on Remus' part.

He hastily dismissed Remus so he could empty his unruly bladder and took a handful of lemon drops.

He was unaware that a switching spell had been cast, and also unaware of the little muggle device under the chair Remus had sat in. Soothed by his sweeties, his tongue loosened, Albus rambled on about why it was for the greater good for Harry to be cowed, and for Black to be out of the picture. Kreacher, on the other end of the powerful little radio-tranceiver, gleefully made tapes with the other muggle device. Blackmail was such a useful tool. Master Sirius still had some instincts of his house, and he had permitted Kreacher to use the wire garrotte on that nasty woman who wanted to control house elves, and Master's wolfy. Ha, Master had some odd ideas, he had thought it would upset Kreacher to kill her, and was going to do it himself, it was just as well loyal Kreacher had found out and had told Master that he would like to kill her. And Master had granted it as a boon. Kreacher cackled happily as he changed tapes, and carefully labelled the first. Headmaster Manyhats was being especially garrulous.

And Kreacher had another job to do; Half-blood Prince appreciated his homicidal tendencies and had asked him to kill wicked pureblood Madam Zabini for perverting her own son. It had to look like an accident. Kreacher cackled happily. It was fortuitous that the Evans halfbood woman would get nowhere if she tried to use rule of law against the Black Widow; it meant Kreacher had more entertainment.

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The rest of the year flowed smoothly, and the Daisy Chain sailed through their end of year exams without too much anxiety from Hermione. Blaise was going home with the Evans kids after the mysterious death of his mother from choking on a fish bone.

It was unfair to prank the OWL or NEWT students, but the examiners were fair game, especially as they had their own sitting room for the duration of the exams. Since Severus let drop the valuable piece of information that all examiners were used to children and would cast detection spells and _finite_ spells on any room which could be accessed by the enterprising, the six thoughtfully provided all the examiners with muggle surprises like whoopee cushions and black face soap in their ensuites.

"Mischief Managed," said Daisy.

 **End of year 1**


	4. Chapter 4

**Year 2**

Neville's holidays were a lot more lively with the young Weasleys to stay. This is to say, his holidays might be loosely described as lively, as compared to about as lively as watching paint dry in a mausoleum whilst drinking glumbumble juice. Arthur Weasley had finally persuaded Molly to go into St Mungo's for help with her attitude problem, but Percy, the twins, Ron and Ginny were still staying with Augusta Longbottom, and spending weekends with their father, unless he was called in to work. Percy had loosened up somewhat, and Neville found him a kind mentor if he was struggling with work. The twins didn't change, but they knew better than to prank either Augusta or any of her elves, since the Longbottom elves were quite happy to retaliate by snatching away treats just as their victims were reaching for them, or to return washed and pressed clothes charmed to be one size too small. The Weasley twins were learning a lot of respect for the abilities of well-adjusted house elves.

Ron earned praise for his continued improvement in table manners, and was beginning to think that Aunt Augusta wasn't such a bad old stick after all, and Ginny adored the woman who had done more for her self image than the supposedly doting mother. Augusta had listened to Ginny's sad outpourings over how she would never get to meet Harry Potter, and with brusque kindness had helped the girl to see that the fictional Harry in the garish books Ginny loved could never be real. Since Albus had not shared with the other members of the Order that he believed Harry Potter to be dead, it was only the letters from her brothers the previous year which had interrupted Ginny's dream, encouraged by her mother, that she would meet and wed the Boy-Who-Lived. Augusta had felt it necessary to extend the contract of the mind healer who had been working with all the Weasley children.

Ginny had learned a lot, however, and was more confident, especially in the fine robes she had learned to make. She had made a robe for Ron, too, and he was really proud of his little sister, rather than his usual contemptuous affection. Ginny was looking forward to starting school.

The huge list of books by Gilderoy Lockhart for DADA made Augusta frown.

"Neville, contact Miss Evans and ask what happened to Remus Lupin as a teacher," she said.

Neville duly got on the floo and asked for a meeting. The Crawley group sent Dan Granger.

"Mr. Granger, why are Gilderoy Lockhart's fiction books set for the children in DADA? Has Mr. Lupin taken leave of his senses?" demanded Augusta.

"Dumbledore said he had no need of his services this year; it's punishment for Remus growing a pair and refusing to try to control Daisy," said Dan.

"Blunt, but at least informative. You are in contact with Mr. Lupin?"

"Yes Ma'am."

"Good; inform him that I am hiring him for the year to be a personal tutor for my grandson and my wards, and presumably your daughter and her friends in place of the current DADA teacher. I cannot think that anyone who would set such drivel can be any good," said Augusta.

"Can you do that?" asked Dan.

"The Hogwarts charter states that private tutors are acceptable both for extra-curricular studies, and where there is a need to supplement or replace the services of one or more teachers," said Augusta. "The fee to be borne by those parents requesting this."

"And we and the Evans family will be glad to chip in with that," said Dan, "if you think the new teacher likely to be so dire."

"Worse than dire," said Augusta. "I will write to inform the head. Do not let him tell you this is unnecessary.

"No, Ma'am I will not," said Dan. "I'll go and give Remus the good news."

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Albus Dumbledore had attempted to obtain magical guardianship of Daisy Evans over the holidays, convinced she was muggle-born. Petunia had ably conducted the case against the headmaster's petition asking whether she was discriminated against in the rearing of her daughter for being widowed, and why the head was taking an unhealthy interest in her daughter but not in her son.

The inference was intended to raise eyebrows and it did. Petunia would have fitted ably into Slytherin had she been able to go to Hogwarts.

"Perhaps the headmaster feels that your children need magical guardians," said Elphias Diggle.

"So why is a witch suddenly not a suitable magical guardian?" asked Petunia.

"You're a muggle, Dumbledore said so!" said Diggle.

" _Expecto Patronum_ ," said Petunia. She had no wand with her, of course, in the Wizengamot; but she and the Grangers had worked hard at producing a patronus wandlessly, in case of trouble from dementors when Voldemort returned. Her galloping pony was impressive to those who had never had the incentive to learn.

Dumbledore was dumfounded. He did not recognise Petunia, other than noting that the Evans women all bore a superficial resemblance to each other.

"I trust this ridiculous farce is over?" said Petunia, who was almost fainting with the strain on her magical core.

"I don't know many people who can cast a corporeal patronus even with a wand; any arguments that this witch lacks enough magic to protect her children is proven to be unfounded," said Augusta Longbottom, acting as court mugwump, since Dumbledore was an interested party.

Griphook had compiled a portfolio to declare Dumbledore an unfit guardian in light of his arrest by muggles for suspected paedophilia, and though that was not proven by a long chalk, they did have him on record for breaking and entering. Griphook was glad it was not needed; it was information to hold in reserve for another time.

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Ron cheerfully introduced his sister to the Daisy Chain on the train.

"She'll probably be in Gryffindor, but just in case she isn't she'll know people from each house," he said.

"That's a good idea and very caring of you, Ronald," said Daisy. Ron flushed.

"I got promoted from 'Mr. Weasley'?"

"Yes, you grew a pair and apologised and you learned manners," said Daisy. "Damn, we'd probably better ask Professor Snape to stop looking at you like you're a flobberworm and looking for reasons to dock points."

"You mean he'd do it if you asked?"

"He's our House Head; he's a father-figure," said Daisy. "Like Madam McGonagall is supposed to be a mother to you lions."

Ron flushed.

"She's more like Aunt Muriel," he said.

"She is not like Muriel Prewett; that woman is insane," said Neville. "She's not that unlike my Gran, Ron, if you think about it, only not as strict for our own good."

"She could have saved me a lot of trouble if she'd been as strict from the word go," said Ron, resentfully. "Is Snape?"

"If you mean, does Professor Snape pull people up on unacceptable behaviour, yes, and he teaches etiquette," said Daisy. "Could he stop Draco from opening his big mouth and swallowing his foot to the knee at first? No. But he got there."

"Cripes, maybe Ginny ought to go into Slytherin," said Ron, which was enough of a volte-face that everyone stared at him "What?" he said. "Aunt Augusta explained that snakes aren't all slimy and your House Head looks out for you."

"So does Madam Sprout," said Susan Bones.

"Professor Flitwick expects us to solve our own problems using logic," said Padma. "I sometimes wish I was in Slytherin. Flitters is a sweetie but he's not very hands-on, and bullies like Cho Chang and Marietta Edgecomb get away with hiding people's kit, and calling names, and it's all very well for Flitters to say that name-calling doesn't hurt, but it does."

"Oh, yes," said Daisy and Hermione in one breath.

"You can always move in with us like Neville did if it gets bad," said Dudley, "I mean, in with the girls," he blushed madly. Padma chuckled.

"I knew what you meant, Duds," she said. "I might take you up on that."

"And you let the Daisy Chain know exactly what those girls do and we'll prank them and good," said Daisy.

"Do they go through your trunk?" asked Hermione.

"Yes, all the time," said Padma.

Hermione gave a feral grin.

"Wards," she said. "Heave it down."

Soon Padma's trunk sported a selection of wards which would make themselves known if anyone opened her trunk and tried to lift the inner layer. Her schoolbooks also carried certain runes. And Padma was dreading going back to school much less.

"Will they work in the hols?" she asked.

"Of course," said Hermione.

"Good. Parvati is always interfering with my stuff too," said Padma. "Mother says it's normal for sisters to borrow each other's things, but not spoiling them, or making fun of them if you ask me."

"Those girls are a menace," agreed Ron. "All the Gryffindor girls."

"You know, I know a lot is said about Hufflepuff," said Daisy, "But it strikes me that Slytherin are ambitious and cunning, Ravenclaws are bookworms, Hufflepuff are loyal, and Gryffindor is stuck with the rest."

"And a few brave, honourable fearless types like Nev and me," said Ron.

"Well, I guess Godric's house has to have a few true lions," said Daisy, diplomatically.

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As it happened, Ginny sorted into Slytherin, where she was welcomed by Daisy's friends, and Draco found his foot stood on when he opened his mouth.

"But I wasn't going to say anything crass," he objected. "I was only going to say that one Weasley has some sense."

"Only mildly crass, and I'm sure Ginny will take it in the spirit in which it was meant," said Daisy.

Ginny giggled.

"Even having been thoroughly trained by Aunt Augusta, Ron has less tact. I take it in the spirit in which it was meant, Heir Malfoy."

"Er, call me Draco, scion Weasley," said Draco.

"And I'm Ginny," said Ginny. "And I'd like to have an all-house study group too, 'cos my friend Luna Lovegood went into Ravenclaw."

Daisy stood up and performed a flurry of semaphore, which the Daisy Chain had discovered in a muggle book and decided would be useful to learn. Padma waved and turned to the blonde firstie.

"Sorted," said Daisy. "Padma will look out for her. And we'll break into Ravenclaw tower and ward her trunk for her. There are some awful bullies in Ravenclaw."

"I'd have gone with her, but I'm not smart enough so I demanded to be with the most fun people," said Ginny. "And much as I love my brothers, I reckon I'll love them better in a different house."

Daisy reflected that at least with Molly Weasley in long term psychiatric care, Ginny would not be getting a howler for going into the 'wrong' house.

Albus was looking rather tight about the mouth at having to receive Remus as a hireling to supplement the DADA of several families; Augusta had informed him that this was a group decision and had failed to inform him who the group was, so he was unable to exclude anyone not specifically named.

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Severus gave his usual speech to the house, and added a glare at the Daisy Chain members.

"Remember the pranksters in the house, you are not firsties any more, and some of your pranks will startle anyone muggle-raised who have not been exposed to much magic. Give them a chance to settle in, if you please. Firsties, be aware our own pranksters are not the only pranksters in the school."

"Sir, you mean my brothers, don't you?" said Ginny.

"Yes, Miss Weasley, I mean your brothers," said Severus. He swallowed hard. Sharing might save some of his little snakes. "They can come close to bullying; let me know if they prank you, any of you, and I will explain to them the error of their ways. Yes, Miss Weasley, I am aware they do not mean to bully, but when I was at school, a group of pranksters were _not_ called for their pranks when they were borderline, and in consequence, their pranks became crueller than I think they ever realised. I don't want your brothers to end up driving anyone to suicide, or some other drastic measure. Be aware that I joined the Death Eaters to protect me from them, and it was the stupidest thing I ever did in my life. I do not share this lightly. But I am available for any of my little snakes whose parents joined the Dark Lord and who now want out. I am researching ways to remove the Dark Mark, and to those of you to whom that knows nothing, be thankful for your ignorance of the matter. The Dark Lord _is_ coming back and we who have been lied to by a bully more profound than any you will ever meet in school are going to oppose him. The snake pit is against Voldemort."

"Sir, can you help some of us with emancipation?" asked a fifth year boy. "You put it so lucidly last year, and I know I felt that we had been betrayed by V ... Voldemort, but my parents didn't want to listen and said I was lying."

"Mr. Avery, are you shaking from cruciatus exposure?"

"Yes, sir."

"Anyone in Mr. Avery's shoes, into my office now, and I will get you potions for that and work out how often and for how long you need them. I am sorry I have exposed you to this."

"It ain't you as flung it," said a big seventh year girl. "It's him as has brainwashed our parents, and them for being abusive. I'm not going back home now I'm of age. I'm not going to be the puppet of a lying madman."

"We've lost a few though," said Severus, sorrowfully.

"Sir, Davy Robbins was one who has been sent to Durmstrang," said the fifth year boy, "And he owled me he was planning to escape. I mailed him some money."

"Good lad," said Severus. "Well, we will protect our own, I'll try to get someone out there to help him."

"Thanks, sir."

Severus thought it a job Sirius Black would relish, and would be good at, but in the meantime he had some snakes to treat for cruciatus.

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As it happened, Sirius returned with more than the Robbins boy a couple of weeks later; he had a number of other Durmstrang kids willing to defect as well as another missing Slytherin. And it was within Albus Dumbledore's belief in the Greater Good that those who wished to turn from the Dark Arts should be helped to do so, and very little blackmail was required to get him to insert the half dozen or so middle European children into Hogwarts.

It did not hurt that Sirius made sure that his lemon drops had been well dosed with will-weakening potions, since Albus used the same trick on others. What was sauce for the goose was sauce also for the gander. And Severus and Sirius were quick to arrange adoptions of all the children into prominent families so that they were protected.

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Davy Robbins' new friend was a Bulgarian lad named Viktor Krum, now Viktor Krum Prince, and that with his parents' blessing.

"It vos hard to learn dark arts," said Viktor. "I am not vanting to hurt peoples. Casting Unforgiveables on muggles to pass my exams, no, I do not like this."

"I think you'd better be part of the tutelage group," said Severus. "Our DADA teacher is useless so some of the students have hired a better one. He's very good."

"Defences I vould like to learn," said Viktor. "You play Quidditch, yes?"

Viktor was a distinct asset to the Slytherin quidditch team.

He was also much impressed when he first saw Hermione's cross-referenced runes, and taught Hermione the duplicating spell when she told him it would take a while to get a copy.

The Slytherin OWL students suddenly started getting better marks in runes than anyone else, which was not popular with the other houses. Cho Chang of Ravenclaw swore they must be cheating, and Viktor demanded a sanctioned duel for her words.

Chang needed hospital treatment after Flitwick refereed a duel, since Viktor had abandoned his wand entirely to use runic chants as he drew runes in the air, accepting and ignoring several stinging hexes in order to turn her into a chicken. He refused to turn her back claiming that her clucks were less offensive than her words and that she was more pleasing to look at since chickens could not look sulky.

Flitwick wanted to look at the book, of course, and Hermione promptly discovered that she was to be entered for the OWL in Ancient Runes this year.

Hermione, being Hermione, demanded to take Arithmancy as well.

Her friends declared to Flitwick that next year would do them well enough to take those two subjects, only two years early.

Meanwhile Lockhart was wondering why he was getting so few people coming to his classes. Fortunately for him, those who did tended to be the fangirls who thought him wonderful.

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Halloween approached again.

"Those bitches Chang and Edgecombe and their cronies are being rotten to Luna," said Padma. "I know she's a bit ... well ... out there, but I'm convinced she sees things other people don't and just uses weird names for what she sees because nobody has words for them. And you were going to come into the tower and ward her stuff."

Padma was curled up in the snakepit because the Daisy Chain were counted as honourary Slytherin, because they were helping the Girl-Who-Inherited as some of them had laughingly dubbed Daisy. That Daisy's honourary uncle had gone to the trouble of rescuing some of their own from Durmstrang had tightened the bonds of loyalty with the snakes.

"Oh, Padma, we are sorry," said Hermione, her friends nodding contritely too. "It's been so busy and I'm afraid the good intentions were forgotten because she hasn't said anything."

"She doesn't," said Padma. "She refuses to complain. But she's awfully miserable and she almost made me cry when I helped her out with some of my kit, she said it was almost like having a friend."

There was a long silence.

"Nobody ought to feel like that; I vote we drag her in with us more. Is she part fae like Malfoy?" asked Daisy. "Well you are, aren't you?" as Draco made a half protesting noise.

"Well, yes, and the Lovegoods are related to the Malfoys," said Draco, reluctantly. "It's an English translation of the original name of the family, Belfoy, before the split. We have Veela blood. And maybe other kinds of fae. It's supposed to be a family secret. Is it so obvious?"

"Well, yes," said Daisy. "At least, I thought it was obvious. Nobody is as pristine as you at all times without inbuilt glamour, and you flare a bit of charisma from time to time. So I read up about fae types."

"Isn't that Granger's line?" said Draco. The snakepit laughed and Hermione threw a cushion at Draco.

"Luna," said Padma.

"Sorry, Lotus-blossom," said Daisy. "We need to come and put wards on her things for starters I guess."

"And try and find her clothes," said Padma. "They've hidden her shoes and socks and underwear and they've locked her out of the tower without any clothes on before now. I got her back in."

"That's so unfair," said Ginny. "I know she dances to the tune of another piper, but she's sort of a friend of mine."

Daisy frowned.

"Denny!" she said.

Denny popped in.

"Miss Daisy is needing Denny?" he asked, with a bow.

"Denny, a girl called Luna in Ravenclaw Tower has had her clothes stolen. I want it all returned to her, and if it's hidden in the trunks of anyone else, I want the exact things they have stolen removed from them and brought here. And if it's hidden in the come-and-go room, if elf magic can find out who put it there, the same exchanges."

"Yes, Miss Daisy!" said the elf, and popped away.

"Daisy, do you really think I can condone this?" said Severus.

Daisy beamed at him.

"No, sir, but I can serve a detention after I get caught, can't I?" she said.

"I'm going into my office, I don't want to know what you are going to do."

"You'll find out soon enough," said Daisy. "Right, snakes, we need a banner on which to write a declaration that these items belong to thieves who have lost exactly what they have stolen."

Denny popped back with a pile of garments.

"Denny will get the rest when the bad girls have gone to bed," he said.

"Is a school elf allowed to remove the clothes of other students?" asked Draco.

"No, but then, Denny is my elf and he spies on the headmaster," said Daisy. "Thank you, Denny, will you show Miss Luna how to get into the kitchen so she has somewhere to go if she finds herself out of the tower without Padma. Actually, assign an elf to watch her, and pop her to my room, and then pop whoever shut her out to the outside of the tower too. I thought you got back in with some dippy riddle, Padma?"

"Yes, but the door can be locked as well."

"I see. That's opening Luna up to being raped by some of the less pleasant elements who wouldn't stop to wonder why a little girl is wandering around without clothes on," said Daisy.

"I hadn't thought of that," said Padma, revolted.

"No, you're a nicely brought up girl who hasn't been taught that people are nasty," said Daisy. "Mum made sure Dudley and I were educated about perfidy."

"What are we going to do with the clothes and banner?" asked Dudley.

"We're going to run them up the flagpole on top of the astronomy tower and then use brooms to tie the lanyard well out of reach," said Daisy. "And now we are going to ward Luna's trunk with runes."

Edgecombe and Chang had already spent some uncomfortable days already, wearing words like 'peeping Thomasina' and 'thief' on their foreheads, or smelling bad, or being bright scarlet, depending on which wards they had tripped on Padma's trunk.

Padma led the way, followed by Daisy, Dudley, Hermione, Millie, Neville, who spent much of his time in the snake pit, and joined by Ginny and Draco.

The eagle knocker spoke.

" _A word there is, five syllables contains_

 _Take one away, no syllable contains."_

"Oh really, that's so easy," said Hermione. "Monosyllable."

"Enter," said the knocker and the door swung open.

"What are these snakes doing here?" demanded a fifth form Ravenclaw.

"Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure," said Hermione. "What? You think we need a Claw to pass your ridiculously simple riddles? The knocker knows who deserves to be here." And she marched past the open-mouthed fifth-former following Padma to the first form girls' dormitory. Dudley, Neville and Draco stood on guard outside.

"What's this about?" asked Penelope Clearwater, an eagle they knew for being a prefect.

"It's like this, prefect," drawled Draco. "If the Ravenclaw prefects did their jobs properly to protect firsties, we wouldn't have to do your jobs for you."

"What do you mean?" demanded Penelope.

"What we mean, Clearwater, is that certain people in your house are bullies and thieves. And the Daisy Chain warded Padma's kit last year to the discomfort of some of them, so they've cowardly enough to pick on a firstie instead. And we aren't having it. Just because you and the other Claw prefects don't bother to do your jobs we don't see a need to take it to Flitters because juniors take care of their own against big bullies."

"Well said, Draco," said Neville. "And those of us of noble or ancient houses have an obligation to protect our kindred and our friends."

"What kindred?" sneered Edgecombe.

"My cousin Luna for one," said Draco.

Edgecombe went pale. Lucius Malfoy's influence in the ministry where her mother worked was well known, and Minister Fudge was about to face a vote of no confidence owing to a number of shady deals which had surfaced, and the accusations by Lucius Malfoy of bribery and corruption. Fudge had accused Malfoy of doing the bribing, and Lucius had come up squeaky clean from having given permission to the DMLE to access his Gringott's records.

Lucius was not the slipperiest customer in the Wizarding World for nothing; he maintained an entirely separate persona for his dirty money, having taken on the identity of a muggle-born who had died in the muggle world, whose death had not been reported in the Wizarding World. Lucius had converted family artefacts to cash to deposit in the name of Tom Anderson, as well as maintaining yet another persona for even shadier deals under the name of Jeremiah Jobling. _**[a.n. house points to anyone who knows the reference]**_

"What, you admit to being related to Loony?" sneered Chang.

"Are you looking for a wizard's duel?" demanded Draco.

"With an ickle second year? Don't make me laugh," said Chang.

"Then expect to be chastised by your betters if you use such an offensive term about my cousin again," said Draco. "It's not as if you were much older than we are, and you certainly aren't as good."

The girls came down at that point, with Luna in tow.

Luna kissed Draco on the cheek.

"Thank you, cousin. You used to have wrackspurts but I see you got rid of them."

Draco thought Luna was a bit of a loony, but family was family, now he had decided to acknowledge her. And who knew? Maybe she did see what others didn't.

"Just making sure those with nargles don't trouble you," he said.

Luna squealed with delight.

"Have you got enough of the blood to see them too?" she asked.

"Not properly," said Draco. "I can kinda feel nargles though," he added, glaring at Chang.

"Some of us just exorcise nargles," said Daisy. "Like we exorcised Voldemort off of Quirrell last year."

Even Cho Chang paled at that. The demonstration of the snakes had been graphic and unexpected.

The Daisy Chain members left. Mischief was managed.

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The fact that Chang and Edgecombe and another of their friends found their shoes and socks missing in the morning was bad enough; after all, none of those brats had gone into the senior dormitories, and they had had their shoes before they went to bed. To discover that the early morning quidditch fanatics were laughing about how the skivvies of some girls were flying from the flagpole along with their socks and shoes was humiliating.

That the banner said "These items belong to thieves. Mischief Managed" was adding salt to the wound. They had to ask Flitwick to retrieve their items of clothing, after having had to go to breakfast with bare feet, as Luna had had to do several times, and the part goblin professor had wanted to know why they were named as thieves, and did not relent until he had the truth. The three girls left his office properly clad but weeping.

Severus assigned the Daisy Chain who were involved a detention and swore he had punished those responsible.

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Cedric Diggory stopped Daisy between classes.

"What's this about you brats humiliating Cho Chang?" he demanded.

Daisy gave him one of her blazing looks.

"Tell me, Heir Diggory, do you think it funny then for a firstie to have her clothes stolen and hidden, and even to be locked out of her House naked for any pervo Gryff to use?" she asked.

"Of course not! But what has Miss Chang to do with that?"

"How about she's one of three third year girls who are so cowardly that they pick on a firstie, encouraging others to call her names and to do that stealing and putting her out of the tower?" sneered Daisy.

"You must be mistaken!" Diggory was shocked.

"The clothes on the flagpole came from trunks where Luna's clothing was hidden. The elves confirmed this," said Daisy, coldly. "I suggest you start thinking with your upper brain, not the one you keep in your trousers. A girl who will do that just to point and laugh at someone with fae sight is not going to be a suitable bride for an ancient house like Diggory, and if you have so little discrimination, House Potter would have to think very hard about terminating any alliance agreements with House Diggory."

"I don't understand," said Diggory. "What's this about fae sight? Why would Cho tease Luna? You mean Luna Lovegood? Her father is a neighbour of ours, she's weird."

"Weird. Well, if you could read auras and you had watched your mother's aura fade as she died in front of your eyes, maybe you'd be a little weird too," snapped Daisy. "I thought you were a decent type; but if you are happy to pick on a bereaved little girl three and more years younger than you as well then apparently you are not the honourable man I believed you to be."

Cedric went red.

"I have never picked on her," he said. "I just don't know what to say if Xeno comes over and brings her. They are both obsessed with imaginary creatures."

"Can you see Thestrals?" asked Daisy.

"No, of course not," said Cedric. "I'm only fifteen."

"Well, I can, because I've seen death," said Daisy. "So can Luna. But I've had people who haven't covered them in COB say that I'm making them up. How do you know Luna sees imaginary creatures? She's part fae, you know. How she names them is a little bizarre, but when nobody has a name for things most people can't see, what do you expect? She also refers to auras with negative aspects to them as being nargles or wrackspurts. Because she can see auras. Because I asked her. Are you beginning to get the message?"

"Er, yes, thank you," said Cedric. "I will ask Cho about her actions."

"You do that, Heir Diggory," said Daisy. "Now excuse me, I am going to be late for potions, and Professor Snape is not warm and fuzzy about tardiness. And I shan't hesitate to tell him I was waylaid by a big boy."

Cedric paled and muttered an apology.

Daisy made it in time, just, and received no more than a raised eyebrow. She would tell the professor later.

Luna was an attribute to the snake pit. She could see nargles on the left arms of death eaters as well as picking out lies. And Daisy wanted to persuade her house head to let Luna draw his left arm to get some ideas of the patterns of the magic in it that arithmancy could address.

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Luna made her drawing, which looked disappointingly messy until she tapped it with her wand and it sprang out in three dimensions.

"Merlin! Miss Lovegood, I am going to give you extra potions lessons, you should be a healer with that skill," said Severus. "Twenty points to Ravenclaw."

"If I work hard enough could I go up a year?" asked Luna.

"I don't see why not, it would give you and Miss Patil more support as well," said Severus. "This line here ... is that leading to my heart?"

"Yes, sir, but I'm not sure how it works. It's full of slithering wifflers," said Luna, seriously.

"Parselmagic?"

"There's a word for it?" Luna looked gratified. "There isn't, usually. Is that useful, then?"

"More than you can know," said Severus. "Daisy, can you pick up the, er, slithering wifflers in the picture?"

Daisy frowned.

"Sort of," she said.

"Please, sir, how come Snakes call everyone by surnames out of house and you're all informal in house?" asked Luna.

"Because we observe tradition with those we have not given permission to with regards to being adoptive family," said Severus.

"Oh, that's all right, then, as I'm part of the Daisy Chain you can call me Luna when we aren't being overheard," said Luna.

"Thank you, Luna. I would not presume upon the connection without your permission."

"You do the greasy dungeon bat very well. It's a good job the Daisy Chain doesn't talk," said Luna.

Nobody was ever going to break Luna of coming out and saying disconcerting things.

Her picture, however, was a stage further forward in breaking the curse.

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Severus was an able arithmancer and runemancer; both added to his art as a Potioneer. With a combination of Luna's drawing, and Scarpin's revelaspell he was able to determine that he could convert the magic into runes, but runes he could not read, being Herpo the Foul's Parseltongue notation.

"Daisy, can you read this?" he asked.

She wrinkled her nose.

"It's ... it's like looking at books in German Blackletter," she said. "I can kind of figure out bits."

Severus nodded.

"It's in Parseltongue," he said. "I'll get a book on it out of the restricted section, and perhaps you can help me to mimic it, or learn some?"

Daisy nodded.

"I don't know if it would work if we blood adopted you, because it left the Grangers sort of aware that there was language but not proper parselmouths, it's something in the Evans bloodline. But can you legilimens me? That might help."

"If you trust me to go in so deep," said Severus.

"Oh! Yes. You're family," said Daisy.

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Severus stalked the attic regions of the school, areas which were not only out of bounds to the students, but hidden from them. He was tense, and was waiting to be attacked by a werewolf.

He was not expecting to see Daisy's lifeless body on the dusty floorboards. Severus gasped in horror. His well-trained occlumensy kicked in sufficiently to realise that there were no little girl footprints in the thick dust, just those of rats or ...

" _Ridikkolous_!" Severus shouted, and Daisy leaped up and became a marionette. "In the box," he ordered. The marionette was chased into the box Severus had brought.

On the way down, he ran into Remus Lupin , who raised an eyebrow.

"You're dusty, Severus, and there's a tear track on your left dust, er, I mean cheek."

Severus compressed his lips and performed a few cleaning charms.

"I was werewolf hunting," he said.

Remus looked interested.

"You caught a boggart?"

"Indeed."

"I am sorry your boggart is still a werewolf."

"Actually, it isn't. I went hunting werewolf, but apparently I have caught something else."

"And did you have a reason for catching a boggart?"

"I don't like Lockhart. He's a fraud. I thought he might like a little practice at the dark arts, and with a carefully enchanted set of omnioculars, we should be able to pass how well he did around the staffroom."

"May I help?"

"I don't see why not. If this doesn't work, I thought I might grow teeth and ask him out on a date. Plenty of people already think I'm a vampire."

"Did you ever get an animagus form?"

"What, wondering if it's a bat? Sorry to disappoint, it's a black panther."

"Figures. There's something distinctly feline about you at times. I ... I just wondered if you would care to come out with Moony, and maybe put that stupid prank of Padfoot's to rest once and for all. Being with me, under wolfsbane, and in a form you know I won't hurt."

"I confess, it's why I worked hard to get an animagus form, sheer terror."

"Let's put the terror to bed then, next full moon, shall we?"

Severus paused, then nodded.

"Thank you, Remus," he said. "Right, let's set up Lockhart's room, shall we?"

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The staff were surprised to be handed omnioculars by Severus and Remus, who had judged it worthwhile to have copies made. One copy had also gone to Amelia Bones of the DMLE.

It seemed that Lockhart's boggart was being found out by Rita Skeeter, who accused him of obliviating the people who had really performed the feats he had claimed were his, and threatened to expose him. Lockhart, who did not think it unfeasible to be ambushed in his own rooms by the reporter, failed to recognise a boggart, and actually knelt on the floor, sobbing and begging not to be exposed. The more he begged, the more 'Rita' sneered, and the more details he revealed. Unfortunately, even working together, Remus and Severus had not managed to get the omniocular to record for more than five minutes, and as they were hiding outside, disillusioned, they burst in as Lockhart was now screaming his pleas to 'Rita'. A flick of the wand from Remus made Dolores Umbridge sexually assault the reporter, from Lockhart's point of view; Severus noted that the same witch ate the moon having divided it up with a cheese knife for Remus. And if Remus raised an eyebrow over Severus' new boggart, he kept it to himself. They were approaching an entente, and his wolf's nose was well aware that Severus held no inappropriate feelings for any of his pupils.

The staff did not resist the urge to look at the omnioculars. They might have done so had Sirius Black handed such things out, but Remus was the responsible member of the Marauders. And soon they were rocking with laughter.

"But it isn't funny, really," said Minerva McGonagall. "It's outrageous."

"That's why a copy went to the DMLE," said Severus.

"Severus my boy! Surely you are not setting up the poor fellow to be arrested?" said Dumbledore.

"Too damn right, I am, Headmaster," snapped Severus. "Suppose we had a problem with some creature from the forbidden forest, which isn't impossible, considering Hagrid's eight legged pet. If I, for example, dealt with the threat, and my incomparable potioneer's brain was damaged by that incompetent fraud in an assault so that he could write a book called ... Aggravating Acromantulas, or something? Would you not regret the brute force obliviation he uses which turns people into vegetables? Or suppose it was you?"

"Well, my dear boy, I take your point, but of course our occlumensy shields ..."

"And supposing it was Remus and as a result he forgot to take his potion, in a school full of children?" said Severus. "Or one of the children? Some of them are more than capable of a bit of spider hunting. How would you explain to Arthur that his bright, happy twins were suddenly little more than vegetables? I know it wouldn't notice if it was done to Percy, but even so!"

"Ah, I am glad to see you are not under the imperius curse or a student under polyjuice, you were sounding altogether too altruistic until that last comment," said Albus. "Well, my boy, I suppose I take your point. Gilderoy has been very disappointing, I did hope that his books showed that he had stepped up to the mark and discovered himself more able in the field than in an exam situation."

"He'd have tae really hae steppit up tae the mark syne he cud be in twa places at onct," said Minerva. "Hae ye no read his books, Albus? The time overlap is no' possible, even wi' a time turner, forebye."

"Oh, er, I hadn't checked," said Dumbledore.

"Ye shud sack the wee sumpf before he is arrestit," said Minerva. "Forebye it will be less bad publicity for the school."

"Um, yes," said Dumbledore.

"And most of the people who take their lessons seriously have joined Remus' classes anyway," said Severus. "So Lockhart will not be missed as a baby-sitter, which is about the limit of his capability."

Lockhart left the castle and was arrested outside the gates of Hogwarts as he departed.

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"I'm ready for you to come inside my head and we'll see if your spell knowledge and my parseltongue can work together," said Daisy, on Saturday.

"If you are sure," Severus was concerned.

Daisy giggled.

"I don't have any guilty secrets you don't already know; I haven't tried snogging anyone, I'm too young to die from the Rotfang conspiracy."

"What has kissing to do with the Rotfang conspiracy, even if it existed outside of the pages of the Quibbler?" demanded Severus.

"Well, if you go around kissing boys, your teeth fall out. Dudley told me so the first time I kissed him on the cheek when we were six," said Daisy.

She was twinkling mischievously at him. Severus reflected that it was a more attractive way to twinkle at someone than in grandfatherly good humour.

"And the headmaster is part of the Rotfang conspiracy anyway, pushing those awful sweeties of his to unsuspecting and harmless children," said Hermione, severely.

"Plainly he has not tried to offer them to you lot if he passes them only to unsuspecting and harmless children," said Severus.

"Oh, he has no idea how dangerous the Daisy Chain is," said Hermione. "Are we getting on with this or not?"

"Not, if you're going to get bossy," said Severus. "Daisy, sit down and get comfortable."

"I think it might be best if we sat cross-legged at opposite ends of the sofa," said Daisy. Severus rolled his eyes. It had been a long time since he had sat cross-legged, but it would provide both of them with support if either had giddiness or consciousness issues. Daisy cuddled up comfortably on her end of the sofa, and Severus seated himself rather stiffly. He rolled up his left sleeve, and reached with his right hand to cup Daisy's chin to angle her gaze to his.

He was in a rolling landscape with a fairytale castle in the distance. There was a vague desire that he should withdraw, because it was a silly place.

" _Welcome to Camelot,_ " Daisy's mind-voice told him. " _I'll leave the defences but lead us past them. The immediate ones are the vicious chicken of Bristol and the beast of AAAAGHH otherwise known as the vorpal bunny, and the knights who say 'Ni'."_

Severus groaned. He had thought that it was going to be an Arthurian legend. He had not anticipated Monty Python. He looked confused at the chicken in a leather flying helmet in a world war one biplane. His confusion must have shown.

" _Well the vicious chicken of Bristol has to be in a Bristol Fighter, doesn't it?"_ asked Daisy. _"I read Biggles, okay? And it's why we have Cardinal Biggles with the comfy chair inside. I couldn't have a Cardinal Fang without thinking of Hagrid's dog and getting the giggles."_

" _The mindscape should confuse almost anyone of the wizarding world,"_ said Severus. " _please tell me you do not have French knights waving their private parts at my auntie because technically that would be Mrs. Granger."_

Daisy giggled.

" _I hadn't thought of that, and I would so not like to irritate Aunt Emma,"_ she said. _"However as I'm taking you inside, they will not have to taunt you another time. Nor will you be automatically apparated to Castle Anthrax when you try to open the door."_

" _Where on earth did you manage to get enough knowledge to populate Castle Anthrax, you minx?"_

" _Well, obviously I don't have enough knowledge so it's full of page 3 ladies running away all the time,"_ said Daisy. _ **[**_ **A/N for non Brits: page 3 of the 'Sun' newspaper features scantily clad females** _ **]**_ " _In we go, ignore Roger the Shrubber, I memorised an OWL paper of Herbology questions for him to ask people. The witch turns people into newts and turns into a duck to eat them before they get better. Sir Robin throws bananas at people and you can slip on the skins. All the doors have something like that behind them but the real door is this one. Ignore the Mike Oldfield music, it seemed to go with the concept."_ She led him into a high-vaulted medieval hall where haunting music was playing.

" _What is it?"_

" _It's 'Flowers of the Forest', a Scots lament for Flodden. Hogwarts does that sort of thing to you, I added the music recently. Through here is the Grail Chapel."_

Through the medieval hall was a small chapel, with a piercingly bright golden vessel. The Holy Grail.

" _My king has one already,"_ Severus managed.

" _I thought you were managing pretty well. You have to understand Monty Python to cope with it,"_ said Daisy. _"I got the idea from what a pensieve does; you dive in."_

Severus did not choke; not quite. The symbolism was ... well, fortunately she was too young to get it. Apparently she was unfamiliar with the rune Perthro from Freya's Aett. She took his hand, smiled at him, and they both jumped into the chalice, becoming one with its light. And then they were in a library with pigeon holes full of scrolls and one wall filled with windows looking out on a huge owl loft. Owls were ready to carry information anywhere.

" _It's a most remarkable mindscape,"_ he whispered, awed. He accepted a parchment from an owl which offered it to him.

 _Ssssss and now I speak. Do you hear? Ssssss_

 _Sssss yes, Daisy-flower, I hear sssssss_

" _Then I will look on your arm and you will cast spells using the tongue."_

And he was using her eyes to look at his real arm and was casting the revellaspell, and he knew what Luna meant as hissing whifflers. The bloody thing was connected to his very magical core!

" _Daisy, I am going to take it out now. I know what to do. I may be magically drained when I have finished, you may suffer some backlash of that though I'll try to spare you. We will need the red potions in the cabinet in my private room where we are, and pepperup potion as well. If I am unconscious and you are not, you must remember."_

" _What if we both are?"_

" _I'm hoping not to touch your magical core at all save to make a start on unravelling that ... thing ... from mine."_

Daisy nodded. She held tight to his mind to push her parseltongue into him. Anyone knows their own body best, if he could undo it, it would probably work better, but she had no intention of being left out. She ignored the pictures of his abusive father, of his first friend who looked like her, of the bullying at school, of the horror that was Voldemort to hold on to his core and to hiss her own irate banishments at the black tendrils sucking at it.

Severus had started chanting in parseltongue to withdraw the tendrils to his magical core, to his heart and to the pain centre of his brain. And Daisy's soothing hands cooled the cruciatus curse that was caused by the magic to the tendrils, ordering the tendrils to depart. She should not ... he would owe her a life debt ... but he must concentrate, they had come this far, if he let go it would come back. The protean charm aspect was easiest to undo, and then the portkey ... and the tendrils sucked out of the skin, waving obscenely and then he was pulling out the whole blackness, the chant similar to the one he had devised to remove Voldemort from Quirrell, yet unalike, it was not a consciousness as such, but there was a touch of malign sentience to it. And then the black was out, and Hermione was doing something to it with a jar, sensible child. And then he passed out.

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Severus came to on an elongated sofa with a pillow and a blanket, with steam coming out of his ears and empty potion bottles beside him as Hermione firmly massaged his throat. Severus had a sudden insight into what it might be like to be Crookshanks with a worming pill. He resolved to be more sympathetic towards the cranky feline.

"Oh good, you're back with us," she said.

"Daisy?" he asked.

"She remembered the right potions and then crashed," said Hermione. "What were you thinking of going off straight into spell work without warning people?"

"It seemed a good idea to strike while the iron was hot," said Severus, meekly, hoping that nobody would ever find out that the evil bat of the dungeon was vanquished by a thirteen year old channelling her inner McGonagall at him.

"Daisy is fine, and I'm going to make you both cocoa," said Hermione. "And under the circumstances I shall allow marshmallow sprinkles, but they are not good for your teeth if used too often."

"Shut it, Hermione," said Daisy. "You'd lecture Voldemort on his eating habits if he was in front of you and then you'd get us killed, or worse, expelled."

"Or in detention scrubbing cauldrons," said Severus. "Believe me, Hermione, I am grateful for your practical turn, and moreover for catching that ... stuff."

"I didn't want it loose," said Hermione. "And I thought you'd want to study it. Well, I would if it was in me."

"Oh yes," said Severus, fervently. He checked his arm; it was clean.

"What was that golden glow around you both?" asked Hermione. Severus' eyes widened.

"Golden ... ah! I acknowledged a life-debt to Daisy," he said, suddenly relieved. "There was a tendril which cast the cruciatus curse if it was disturbed. She undid it."

"Ah, that would explain it," said Hermione.

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The owl bearing an official looking letter for Severus next morning filled him with foreboding, especially as Daisy appeared to be getting one very similar.

He ripped it open, and found a form-letter, automatically generated. How efficiently inefficient of the Ministry!

" _Dear Mr. Snape,_

 _Magic has recorded that your core is compatible with that of Daisy Harriet Evans. This means that a soul bond with the said Daisy Harriet Evans is possible. If a bond is initiated, you will be informed."_

Severus choked.

But it wasn't a soul bond yet.

Petunia and Griphook would get one of these too. Griphook would know what it meant, but Petunia would want to know what initiated it and what the devil he meant by having a near soul-bond with her barely pubescent daughter. He had better write immediately and explain that he had no intention of following up such a thing, especially while Daisy was his pupil. The child was examining it with her brows drawn together. He hoped it was puzzlement, not fear that he would follow it up. He had better see her right after breakfast before writing to Petunia. Perhaps Denny would take a message, it would be quicker than owl post.

"What's the ministry after now, Severus?" asked Minerva. Severus swallowed hard and checked Dumbledore was occupied, and showed her the letter.

"Severus! How did that happen?"

"She helped undo my dark mark," muttered Severus. "Bloody ministry."

"They've logged a life debt, presumably and checked compatibility at the same time," said Minerva. "Life debts can lead to marriage."

"Minerva! I'm thirty-two, and she's a babe!"

Minerva shrugged.

"When you're a hundred and thirty-two, it's less likely to be an issue forebye."

"You're not telling me you're in favour!"

"Not at the moment, obviously not. But by the time she's seventeen? Weell, you can see how it goes."

Severus groaned.

"Petunia is going to have my guts for garters."

"I doubt it; Griphook will explain. You ought to write to her, though."

"I was planning to."

Severus caught up with Daisy and friends after breakfast and shooed them into his office.

"Does this mean we're engaged, or something, sir?" asked Daisy.

"No, Daisy, it means that if we chose to pursue a romance in the future, we would be very happy together, but it does not mean that you cannot choose someone else to be happy with," said Severus. "It is not a soul bond, but it means that one could form if permitted. Equally you might form a compatibility with someone else; it is partly because I owe you a life debt. If you had not stopped the cruciatus tendril I would not have been able to remove the rest, and would have died screaming or become incapacitated because of it. A life debt can lead to romance, and an unacknowledged life debt leads to illness on the part of the one who owes it. Which is why I acknowledge the life debt to your father, even though I did not like him. The debt passes to your line."

"I don't like you being in debt to me," said Daisy.

"Magic doesn't care what you like, I'm afraid," said Severus. "This is merely a notification of what can be, however; you need not worry about being tied to me. It requires a kiss, with understanding of what a grown-up kiss is about in order to seal a soul-bond. Now if you will kindly call Denny, I will write a full explanation of what happened for your mother, who will also have got a letter about this." He smiled at her and turned away to reach for parchment, and thus failed to see the look of thoughtful calculation on Daisy's face.

Denny was happy to carry a letter for Master Potions Sir, and arrived to find Petunia somewhere between hysterics and relief at Griphook's explanation. Reading what had happened she calmed down a lot. Petunia had heard of life debts.

She might not have been so calm if she had heard her daughter addressing Hermione and Dudley.

"I think, you know, Professor Snape might be a keeper."

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"Oy, Ronniekins!" one of the twins collared Ron Weasley at breakfast. "Who's this here Peter Pettigrew?"

"Yeah, never heard of him," said the other.

"Is he ..."

"One of the Durmstrang imports?"

"Or is he in ..."

"Another House?"

"And how old is he ..."

"And if he's older than you, is he taking advantage of you?"

Ron stared in incomprehension.

"What on earth are you talking about?" he asked.

"Oh come on, Ronniekins ..."

"We know this Peter Pettigrew has been in your bed ..."

"Every night this term."

"So who is he?"

"Stop it!" Ron was as red as his hair, and looking angry. "What have I done to annoy you to make you make this up?"

The twins exchanged looks.

"You really don't know that he's sharing your bed?"

"Nobody shares my bed!" shouted Ron.

"Who'd want to? He snores and farts something chronic," said Dean Thomas.

The twins shared another look.

"Ron, this isn't ..."

"A joke. And if..."

"You don't know, either someone's obliviating you..."

"Or using potions on you."

Ron looked scared.

"You swear you aren't putting me on?"

"On our magic!" they said together, the golden flare of their wands proving the oath.

"I think I'm going to throw up," said Ron. "I want to see Madam McGonagall!"

"I think we all should," said Fred, soberly.

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Madam McGonagall gasped, when told, and threw a handful of floo powder in the fire, calling for the DADA office.

"Remus, did a' the Marauders complete their animagus forms?"

"Yes, Minerva. I thought you knew our names were based on them? Prongs for James as a stag, Padfoot for Sirius as a dog, and Wormtail for Peter as a rat."

Minerva rose and dusted off her robe.

"Professor Lupin was a Marauder?" George asked in awe.

"Ye'll hae the notorious map then, nae doot," said McGonagall. "Tae see the name o' Peter Pettigrew and no' tae see he's a rat missing one toe."

Ron paled.

"Scabbers?" he gasped.

"How long have ye had yon rat?" asked Minerva.

"Well ... with Percy having him first, it must be since I was about three," said Ron.

"Rats don't live more than four years," said Minerva. "Is he in his cage?"

"Too right he is; too many cats about," said Ron. "Oh! you mean ... "

"I mean I'm going to turn him over to the DMLE," said Minerva. "Thirty points to Gryffindor for figuring out something was amiss, you twins."

"We thought ..."

"Ronniekins had a boyfriend ..."

"Or had some other reason to be real tight ..."

"With this fellow whose name we didn't know."

"But he was genuinely confused ..."

"So we were scared he was being potioned ..."

"Or obliviated ..."

"And he hasn't got enough wits left ..."

"Without them being further addled."

"OY!" said Ron.

Peter Pettigrew was duly delivered to the ministry, and Sirius was called in to testify against him. It was another milestone in healing Padfoot's damaged sanity.

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"I don't see why we have to have dirty foreigners in our school," Terry Boot was sneering at Viktor. "I bet your family are all Death Eaters if you go to Durmstrang."

"You take that back! Why do you think he wanted to leave Durmstrang? You ..." Draco Malfoy had balled his fists, and found Daisy's arm suddenly slipped into his.

"Don't be such a Gryffindor," she murmured. "I see that the lesson regarding the bullying of Miss Lovegood and Miss Patil seems to have been lost on the honourless scum from the eyrie. After all, birds of prey are magnificent to look at, but the phrase 'bird brain' isn't used in vain. They should be called chickens, not eagles. Chickens peck at the one which is different, like the one who can see in fae-sight, or the one with dark skin from India, or our most excellent new fifth year, who is tipped to be a prefect next year for the way he is settling in with our school. Ignore the mindless clucking, my friends, and come away while Boot lays an egg."

"You shut it, you interfering snake!" said Boot.

Daisy grinned and started doing a very realistic impression of a chicken.

This was public enough that it was clear why sundry Slytherin, and some other members of the Daisy Chain, proceeded to cluck loudly whenever Boot was in sight.

Viktor was a lad of few words, as his English was limited, but he showed his appreciation to the Daisy Chain, by helping them with their homework as far as he was able.

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Christmas came and went, and Severus was working on formalising the chant to remove the dark mark. Daisy worked patiently with him, trying to recall the chant, and mimic it in parseltongue. Severus sighed.

"We need the headmaster's penseive," he said.

"What's one of those?" asked Daisy.

"It's a bowl into which you place memories and then you can view them, and see the things you didn't see clearly," said Severus.

"Sounds handy. You don't have one?"

"No, they are rare and valuable."

Daisy frowned.

"If it's like a bird bath with runes on, I'm pretty certain there's one in the Potter vault, but if we can borrow one in the meantime, I think it's something we don't mind the old goat knowing, isn't it?"

"Daisy, you probably ought to speak respectfully of the headmaster, no matter what you think."

"Oh, I wouldn't do so if it wasn't with family." She beamed at him.

Severus gave up.

He approached the headmaster.

"Albus, did I show you what I achieved with some help?" he asked.

"No, Severus, but I presume you are now ready to share something more profound than the boggart of Gilderoy?"

Severus was not about to be drawn, and rolled up his sleeve.

Dumbledore gasped, and cast several diagnostic spells.

"How did you achieve that?" he asked, a little sharply. It ruined Severus' value as a spy, though now he was teaching better at least he was worth keeping on.

"Parseltongue runs in the Evans family," said Severus. "With a combination of my knowledge of spell-crafting and parseltongue, an experimental assault on it was possible. It's not easy; it ties directly into the magical core and can drain power from it, and has a reach into the pain centre in order to cast the cruciatus curse when it is disturbed. Without two of us working on it I would be in the same state as Frank and Alice Longbottom. It also has a portkey and any one can activate all, so it is a protean charm." The headmaster had already speculated on much of that, apart from the pain component, and nodded his head. Severus continued, "I am attempting to learn Parseltongue to use Parselmagic on others. Lucius, for example, who has been very helpful."

Dumbledore nodded.

"Yes, it is possible to learn to understand it, and to reproduce it to some extent. Not necessarily to the extent of being able to have a conversation with a snake, mind you. But to use to reproduce a chant, yes. What can I do to help?"

"I'd like to borrow the pensieve to review what it took," said Severus.

"It's a memory I'd like to see myself," said Dumbledore.

"I'd have to ask permission; I was using legilimensy to find parseltongue, with permission, obviously," said Severus.

"Well, well, I'll abide by that decision," said Dumbledore. "If it's not forthcoming, perhaps I may watch you perform the removal of Lucius' mark."

Severus shrugged.

"If I get it right," he said. "Thank you."

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He returned to his office with the penseive, to find Daisy and Hermione poring over the texts by Herpo. Daisy was hissing at Hermione, who was frowning, and hesitantly nodding. They jumped up, and Severus smiled, thinking what children they were still, oblivious to how indecorous they were.

"I have the headmaster's pensieve," he said. "I told him I'd ask, he wants to view the memory."

"EEEWWWW," said Daisy. "I'm not having that old goat fumbling around inside my thoughts, thank you very much."

Severus smirked.

"I thought you might say that," he said. "And yet you didn't mind me in there?"

"Oh, I didn't need a letter from the ministry to tell me that my thoughts are comfortable with yours," said Daisy. "Right, what do we do?"

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Petunia read out a letter from Severus to the Crawley group.

"If Malfoy lets him remove his mark, that will keep the headmaster in line," said Griphook. "He loves redemption stories, and he can believe that it will be a move towards the light for the fellow."

"You don't trust Malfoy?" asked Emma.

"As far as I could kick him," said Griphook. "However, he _is_ on our side. Lucius Malfoy is committed to pureblood idealism but not as committed to it as he is committed to his evening Napoleon Brandy sitting in his Louis Quinze chair on his Aubusson carpet, reading a very healthy bank statement."

The others laughed.

"He likes to be well thought of, and to have power, I think," said Dan.

"Yes, he's a sleek feline of a wizard who likes to have his own way," said Griphook. "No offence meant to Crookshanks," he added. "Lucius is a pedigree prince, which has little idea how to be a real cat. And he can see which way the wind blows."

"And I'll be polite to him for my cousin's sake," said Sirius. "And for the sake of getting rid of Tom Riddle for once and for all. I've been talking to the Krums in Bulgaria, and there's quite a few people they know who would also stand against Tom, despite the hold Karkaroff and his ilk have on Durmstrang. Is there any chance this ritual Sn ... Severus has discovered would work on the horcruxes?"

"I don't know, but I'll write and ask," said Petunia. "He's postulating changing the ritual to cast on one dark mark so it activates the protean charm aspect of it, and remove it from all at once."

Dan laughed.

"Can't you imagine the consternation amongst the Marked?" he said. "They won't know if it's gone because he's fully dead or what."

"Severus said he was chortling like a Marauder over the thought," said Petunia.

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Lucius was contemplating whether or not Rufus Scrimgeour was a suitable minister or not, over a glass of brandy, when the floo flared. He enabled speaking. Severus Snape was in the green flame.

"Hello, Severus, is there a problem with Draco?" he asked.

"No, he's doing quite well, actually," said Severus. "The Evans and Granger kids have been teaching him how to be a Slytherin rather than giving in to his unexpectedly Gryffindorish side."

"About time. A shame he has to learn from mudbloods," said Lucius.

Severus frowned.

"I don't think you can call Dagworth-Grangers mudbloods, and as one of them is my Aunt Emma, I resent it. As for the Evans family, they are in descent of Salazar Slytherin through the Peverells, and if you don't want their unique abilities to have the dark mark removed, we've nothing more to say."

He cut the connection, and started counting.

It was fewer than ten seconds before Lucius' head appeared in his fireplace.

"I'm sorry, Severus, don't be so touchy."

"I don't see why I shouldn't be touchy about my relatives," said Severus, sounding snippy. "I've been doing a study, actually, and there's no such thing as a mudblood."

"What?" Lucius stared.

"Well, every one I've had tested so far comes from old blood through squibs and the habit of sending squibs away means our own culture is responsible for them losing our culture and consequently bringing in muggle culture to erode our way of life."

"Really? Well that's ... what were you going to tell me about the dark mark?"

Severus bared his forearm.

"I got rid of it," he said.

"Very well, I confess to being impressed," said Lucius. "And what's this about unique abilities?"

"Daisy Evans used parseltongue to help me," said Severus. "I've been learning it. I said I'd show Dumbledore how to do it on you. Are you up for it?"

"I'd be more up for it without that interfering old coot, but I suppose he's my ally."

"Exactly," said Severus. "Why don't you floo him and ask to come through and I'll make my way up?"

Lucius nodded and cut the connection.

Ten minutes later, Severus had taken Daisy up to the head's office.

"What's she doing there?" asked Lucius.

"Just in case I need help undoing the cruciatus component," said Severus. "You're the first, Lucius. She has a flair for ritual."

"Besides, I promised Draco to do my best to help his father," said Daisy. "I do wish you'd recognise that he needs more help than chastisement, you know; he has to be shown how to reach his Slytherin side, when the example he has at home is of being knocked about or crucio'd how is he to learn how to be subtle?"

Lucius' face took on an ugly look.

"He told you that?"

"Oh, no, I legilimensed him shamelessly," said Daisy. "I'm under the age when people think you can so I can't be prosecuted and it really was for, er, the Greater Good. Well it was for his good, and I believe that sometimes the needs of the one outweigh the needs of the many. Live long and prosper."

"Very well," growled Lucius. "You are pert."

"I'm also good enough to get away with it," said Daisy.

"Just relax, Lucius," said Severus. Lucius sat back, and Severus began chanting. It was not long before Lucius screamed, and then Daisy took up the chant, her fingers delicately on a pattern twist in the tattoo. And then she was ready with the jar as the writhing black strands wriggled out of the blond's skin, like obscene worms. And Lucius was panting slightly, staring at his clean arm, and looking at the sweating potions master and pale little girl.

"I owe you both," he said.

It was all the thanks they were going to get; but Lucius Malfoy never forgot his debts, of any kind.

"Fascinating," said Dumbledore. "May I study the residue?"

"Certainly, headmaster, but I don't suggest you let it out unless you plan to dissolve it in basilisk venom – if you can get any – or destroy it with fiendfyre," said Severus.

"That dangerous?"

"Let's just say I haven't survived this long by taking undue risks," said Severus.

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"When did you become a legilimens, Daisy?" asked Severus.

She beamed at him.

"Oh, when we were in that mind-clinch, I could see how you did it, and worked on the basics."

"Mind-clinch is, er ... Daisy, you said that on purpose to make me blush, you revolting child."

Daisy was giggling.

"But you do love me, don't you?"

"Merlin's beard! Yes, but not in that way, you're still a child."

"Well, time will cure that," said Daisy, philosophically.

"It may not happen."

"I'm lazy enough to like the status as it is quo'd. Besides, you're comfortable to be with; I could live with nagging you to get out of your potioneer's magazine long enough to eat breakfast when we're a hundred and umpty."

Severus gave a reluctant laugh.

"Well, nobody can say you don't know my vices." He grimaced. "Daisy, you need to know that I was the one who told Tom Riddle the first part of a prophecy which was why he targeted James and Lily Potter."

"Yes, I know, I saw how you keep beating yourself up for it, when we were thought-snogging," said Daisy. "I expect if you hadn't told him, he'd have found out some other way. Is he really mugglish enough to put so much store in prophecies?"

"Yes, he is, a lot of people are and please don't use such disturbing imagery about our mind-share."

"I like making you blush," said Daisy, unrepentantly. "I heard the prophecy in full, as you know. Can we make some kind of false prophecy now I know you know how much he heard?"

Severus narrowed his eyes.

"I think the Unspeakables would be co-operative. What had you in mind?"

"I think I know which Potter familial spell Mum Lily used. I've been reading the grimoires. And if I have it correctly, and he needs a ritual to re-form a body, then I can perform a ritual on myself to build on her sacrifice so any blood he has from me for his ritual will literally be toxic to him. If we could plant something that only with the blood of his enemy can he defeat his enemy then we get him to take the means of his own destruction."

"You cannot set yourself up as bait!"

"I will if I have to, but I ... I need to check some things out about how the House Rings work."

"What do you mean?"

"I was wondering how to have a hollow betrothal so that I could issue the betrothal ring to someone who could come and rescue me, but I didn't want to do that to another kid. If we may be soul-bound one day anyway, an alliance between House Prince and House Potter would be beneficial, it won't fail for being hollow, we can still have a betrothal bond with a get-out clause and I have a very powerful man ready to do the white knight on a charger thing."

Severus gaped.

"Did you just propose to me?"

"Yes."

"Merlin! Daisy, I think you are brilliant, though part of me hates the idea, and part of me is scared of being called a pervert."

"I understand Draco and Pansy were betrothed in the cradle."

"Yes but ... well very well, I suppose it isn't different."

"Good; that's settled, then, Severus, and we can get the ring and go and talk to Mr. Croaker at Easter."

Severus gaped impotently.

He had just been out-Slytherined.

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 _Dear Mum,_

 _I need you to approach Aunt Emma as Regent of the House of Prince to secure a betrothal contract between me and Severus Snape. EEWWW, Mum, coffee sprayed all over my letter? Have more respect for the written word! [I bet you did spray it with coffee, didn't you?]._

 _Listen, if I'm betrothed with a good get-out-of-jail free card for both of us, I am protected from other people, and what's more, Dad Griphook will tell you that the Potter Rings can act as a portkey to each other, so if Tommy plays rough,_ _Prof_ _Severus can rescue me. It's not unreasonable as we can form a soul-bond later if we feel like it, and if Severus finds a lady he likes better, then I won't tie him to me, but I might ask him to remain betrothed until we've managed to nail Tommy firmly into a suit of pinewood._

 _Did you really think I have grown-up feelings yet? I don't, but we can see how it goes when I do. I think it's most important to be friends first, like Uncle Dan and Aunt Emma were, and you and Dad Griphook. I guess you'll understand that, having married Vernon too soon for the wrong reasons. I just want to be safe, and I trust Severus a lot more than I trust the old goat. Mind you, that's not flattering but you know what I mean. I trust Uncles Remus and Sirius too, but I kinda feel totally safe with Severus and I don't have to worry about him having Monthlies and not being available._

 _Hermione, Dudley, Draco, Millie and I are helping brew Wolfsbane, and Severus is managing to improve it a bit every time, talking about Moony, so maybe there will be a cure one day. He lets us brew some of the hospital stuff without supervision now, and Viktor helps, he looks clumsy but he's a handy potioneer. Neville and Padma help when they can, I have to say that I am disappointed that some of the Daisy Chain are happy to be in a study group but not so happy to give up free time to help people. Luna and Ginny are our newest members and they help but they haven't covered as much yet._

 _Anyway, sort out something legal, something along the lines of marrying no later than my twentieth birthday or something, can be dissolved by a declaration in front of witness by either party, blah blah. No need for penalty clauses or dowry agreements, or numbers of children, if I keep him I don't want it overturned just because we can't have brats or something._

 _When is the baby due? You are pregnant, aren't you?_

 _Daisy._

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Petunia had a betrothal agreement for Daisy by Easter, at which time her pregnancy was quite apparent. Griphook was treating her like delicate china. Daisy looked on him with approval.

"You know, if I didn't have the option on Severus, I'd have to think about getting myself a goblin boyfriend," she said. "I do like gentlemen, and a lot of the boys my age are really crass."

"Oy!" said Dudley.

"You're my brother; you're supposed to be crass," said Daisy. "Ginny says it's in the rules. Ronald is a nicer boy though, now, is it true Molly Weasley is back home?"

"Do you ever pause for breath, little flower?" asked Griphook, laughing.

"Not often," said Daisy.

"It was a rhetorical question, but ... well, I am glad you are happy," said Griphook. "Mrs. Weasley is home, but the children are still staying with Lady Longbottom, and are visiting their mother, a few of them at a time at The Burrow. William has had leave to come home to visit her, and it seems to be going well."

"Good," said Daisy. "Ginny is happy enough with Aunt Augusta, but she missed her mum a few times as well."

Severus came by to sign the betrothal agreement, and Petunia grinned to herself to see him plainly twisted round Daisy's finger. He also brought polyjuice potion, made with a hair of Trelawney, and one made with the hair of Dumbledore. Now the mark was gone and he was free, he could take it upon himself to be a target and draw the ire of Tom Riddle for having supposedly lied about seeing only half the prophecy.

Transfiguration took care of a mock-up of the room in the Hog's Head, and he lurked at the door to see Daisy and Dan playing the parts of Trelawney and Dumbledore. He had shown Daisy the memory of Trelawney's harsh voice, and she performed perfectly, the polyjuice enabling her vocal chords to have the necessary range. Severus placed the memory in a vial, and took it to Croaker, with instructions. The Unspeakable was highly amused.

While he was there, Severus asked if he could try something with the horcruxes, and proceeded to use the same chant he had formed for the dark mark. Croaker watched, interested.

"It's doing something, Mr. Snape, but not there yet. I didn't have you tagged as a Parselmouth."

"I'm not, not really. I learned enough to reproduce something by rote, which as I know the intent works as well as any kid fumbling through a Latin incantation, and I understand it. But it's not natural to me."

"Impressive learning it though," said Croaker. "Well, you appear to be on the right lines, and you've taken off one or two of the curses."

"Well, that's better than nothing," said Severus.

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The summer jape, once the holidays were over, involved a lot of rune work and careful hovering charms to reach the ceiling of the Transfiguration classroom. However, once it was set up, all they had to do was to sit back, and watch Professor McGonagall's face as the runes on the ceiling spawned butterflies at random intervals.

What was particularly hilarious was that the stern professor's face would become distinctly feline and she swiped at the butterflies, and snapped at the one which flew close to her face. Daisy almost split her sides holding in a laugh when the austere Scotswoman spat out bits of butterfly and retrieved a comb from her pocket to groom.

Those of the Daisy Chain who were involved had a detention writing out how they had done it.

"Wee sumpfs!" declared Minerva, in the staff room.

And nobody noticed that Severus was wearing a ring with the Potter device on it, because the rings could be hidden by willing it.

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Petunia Evans-Hook looked down at her brand new son with satisfaction. The birth had been easy, and he managed to have something of the elfin look of the Malfoys. Griphook bent closer, and the boy waved an arm and whacked his father in the mouth.

"A warrior already!" said Griphook, delighted. "Snagfang, I name you."

"I'd been thinking about Henry, after my father," said Petunia.

Griphook waved a hand.

"We can haggle over whether he is Henry Snagfang or Snagfang Henry later," he said. "When you are enough recovered from the birth that we can make opposing bids that we both enjoy."

Petunia blushed.

"You have a most entertaining way of haggling, best of husbands," she said.

He grinned his feral grin, and passed her the potions Emma had brewed to help with overcoming the after effects of birth.

Filius Flitwick had been to Hogwarts, but Griphook planned to infiltrate it more thoroughly by fulfilling Petunia's dream of a large family. Now she was a witch, she could expect to be fertile for longer as well as living longer.

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Hedwig gave a sharp hoot as she landed between Daisy and Dudley. Daisy paled.

"Mum must have ..." she said.

"Well open the ruddy letter," said Dudley. "I'll bribe Hedwig."

Daisy was soon grinning all over her face.

"We have a brother, Henry Snagfang Evans-Hook," she said.

"Wow, Snagfang is a much cooler name than Henry," said Dudley.

"Oh, well, he can choose how to be named when he is older," said Daisy, having chosen her own name. "Mum says he looks like a cross between Draco and a tomato."

"That's ... not flattering," said Draco.

"It's the fae features of half-goblins," said Hermione. "I wonder if he's a parselmouth?"

"I expect at the moment he's not speaking anything," said Daisy. "And we have all summer holiday to make sure he at least understands, even if he's not a Speaker."

"I have news too," said Ginny. "With Dad looking after Mum at home, seems like we'll be getting a new sibling too."

"Be in a different school year, but then, you're in a different year to us, Ginny-Tonic," said Draco.

"I told you not to call me that!"

"I like calling you that; you go as red as your hair and you bristle like an offended Knarl," said Draco. "Oh no, not that, I apologise, pax!"

"You're lucky I'm in a good mood," said Ginny, stopping the wand movements leading to the bat bogey hex.

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The school year wound down, and everyone was busy boarding the big red train, grumbling rather about the illicit use of runes which had every boy skipping lightly after having passed over the school door step, saying "Hello clouds, hello sky!" at regular intervals, since Dan had been unwise enough to expose Daisy and Dudley to Molesworth; the girls had been harder to find inspiration for, but the Daisy Chain had settled for making them hop on one leg, shouting 'Katy did!' at intervals.

It was all par for the course at a magical school, and had worn off by the time the train was moving, as a speed of more than ten miles an hour broke the enchantment.

Hermione had been very proud of that refinement.

"Mischief managed!" she said.

 **End of year 2**


	5. Chapter 5

The news that Peter Pettigrew had broken out of Azkhaban was sour news.

Apparently, someone had forgotten that he was an animagus, and somehow he had slipped out in his rat form. He had probably hitched a ride on a ministry boat, because boats and rats tended to go together.

The better news was that he might be having difficulty tracing Voldemort through his dark mark since Severus had every hope that he did not have it any more. With Crabbe and Goyle seniors as willing guinea pigs, he had used the long holidays to adapt the parselmagic to remove the dark mark in activating the protean charm aspect of it. Daisy had been called in to Malfoy Manor, with Dudley to help too, in easing the pain of both men as Severus used Goyle's mark to drag out Crabbe's, and, he hoped, anyone else's.

"It may only work on those done in the same ceremony," he said, as the exhausted and drained men, and tired children, drank hot chocolate. The adults had a healthy snifter of whisky in theirs.

"I don't care, it's gone," said Gregory Goyle, senior, hugging his son.

"Yeah, thanks, Dud, thanks Daisy," said Greg. Victor Crabbe nodded.

"Father, why don't you contact some of the people you know and ask if their marks have mysteriously disappeared too?" asked Draco.

"In case they haven't," said Lucius. "I'm not about to put my head above the parapet."

"Maybe the DMLE would inspect the Lestranges and the others in Azkaban," said Severus.

"That's a better idea. I'll contact Scrimgeiur. I was tactically honest with him about having mine removed by ritual because I hated all that Riddle stands for. Which I do, he's a deranged blood-liar. And I've had a better relationship with Draco and Narcissa since you took it out. It seems to drain the positive emotions and I resent the lost years. We're going to be parents again."

"Congratulations," said Severus, who had noticed that Draco was more relaxed.

"We will ask our little brother to look out for the second Malfoy scion," said Daisy. Lucius' face worked. The idea of having a Malfoy looked out for by a half-breed was not what he would have chosen; but on the other hand, the Evans family were descendants of Slytherin himself and proved to be powerful. And an in with the goblin nation would not go amiss.

"And he'll be with Ginny's little brother or sister," said Draco, looking a little goofy.

"Draco, are you and Ginny a Case?" asked Daisy.

"I asked my parents to prepare an open betrothal contract with her, for me, along the lines of yours and Uncle Sev's," said Draco. "If Riddle does return, then she needs protection, because the Weasleys will be a target. And she's cute."

"I wonder which will breed true, the red or the silver hair?" laughed Dudley.

"I don't mind red-haired daughters, but my sons had better be blond," said Draco.

"I'm not sure Fate cares that much for your wishes," said Daisy.

"Well, whichever it is, they'll be ineffably cool like all Malfoys," opined Draco.

Daisy waved a hand and Draco yelled as his hair turned purple and stood on end while a huge purple pustule developed on his nose, swelling until it burst, singing "We are the champions" as it diminished.

Lucius was impressed at such wordless and wandless casting. Daisy did not consider hexing a friend to be taxing magic, so did not see a need for a wand or incantation. It was just high jinks.

"I'll get you," said Draco, without rancour.

"In your dreams," said Daisy, hugging him. "I think you and Ginny are really sweet together."

"I wouldn't necessarily say the same about you and Uncle Sev. No offence," Draco added hastily.

"I'm not feeling old enough to be sweet with anyone," said Daisy. "I want to enjoy snogging his brains out when I'm old enough for it to have meaning, not just because I could, which I suspect spoils it for a lot of people who start snogging too soon. You respect Ginny, now, Draco, and don't go looking for broom closets until she's gagging for it."

"Yes mother," said Draco. "I could have done without the disturbing thought of you snogging my godfather's brains out."

"And please, don't consider my feelings in the least," said Severus.

"Well, you don't want us to snog each others' brains out yet, do you?" said Daisy. "You see lots of second and third years trying to snog, and I don't think it's healthy because half of them at least are only doing it because they think it's expected, and what sort of bonding experience is that? They ought to have the self-respect to say no, until they are ready for it."

"A good and mature point," said Severus. "I'm glad you are aware that I am far too young for your seductive wiles to ensnare me."

Daisy giggled.

"Loving people is much nicer than lusting after them," she said.

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The guards at Azkaban reported that the Lestranges and other Death Eaters had screamed a lot at the appropriate time, but had not lost their dark marks, save a couple who were younger than the two men who had been part of the experiment.

"Well, it shows his magic was more personal for the early ones," Severus said to Lucius. "However, any diminishing of his followers is good. That should have removed Pettigrew's."

"Which is good," said Lucius. "Not ideal, but good; and to be honest, it's impressive enough that you can remove one at a time, never mind as batches. I'm glad it hurt Bellatrix though; that witch is several cards short of a full deck, and it bothers me that Narcissa still loves her."

Severus shrugged.

"It shows that your wife has a loving disposition," he said. "And she still remembers Bella looking out for her at school. Maybe you should encourage her having a better relationship with Andromeda."

"Yes, it's a good idea. The comparison of sane witch to lunatic might help her see her way to regretfully letting go of Bella."

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Daisy, Dudley, Hermione and Blaise were almost bubbling with excitement when they got on the train; Sirius was taking over as DADA teacher this year, and he and Severus had promised to help them start looking for their animagus forms. They would be asking Neville and Millie to join them, being the inner group. They were debating asking Draco, Ginny, Padma and Luna to join them as they had become close.

Blaise was a much happier boy now his mother was dead. His latest stepfather had also died over the holidays, and Blaise had begged to have the deaths of so many husbands investigated more fully, for his own satisfaction and to give any family they had some closure. He suspected that this latest death was some long term effect which had continued even after his mother was no longer there. Petunia had written to Amelia Bones on his behalf, and was filing for custody.

"What form do you think you'll be?" Blaise asked. He was finally coming out of his shell. "I'd love to be a falcon or hawk."

"I would like to be a panther," said Daisy, wistfully. "Severus is a panther, Moony runs with him."

"Daisy, you so are going to get into trouble using Professor Snape's first name," scolded Hermione. "It's not public that you are betrothed, and I don't recall him saying you could use it."

"He hasn't told me off for it, though," said Daisy. "Oh good, is this the rest? We need expansion runes on this carriage."

Neville came in, and smiled shyly at Hermione.

"I saw Draco escorting Millie, and Padma was just coming onto the platform," he said. "Ginny is right behind me, but she stopped to collect Draco and Millie."

Draco, Ginny and Millie came in as he spoke.

Millie smiled shyly at Dudley and sat down beside him as Hermione used a permanent marker to draw a selection of runes at strategic spots on the carriage wall. It suddenly heaved, shifted, shook itself like a wet dog and doubled in size.

"She's good at that," said Neville, fondly.

"As if you didn't use runes to make your plants grow," said Ginny. "Especially that evil tempered brute with arrows."

"Sagittaria spinifora," said Neville.

"His animagus form is going to be a florimagus form," said Dudley.

"Well there are self-motile plants," said Neville.

"Are you lot trying to be animagi?" Draco was excited.

"Yeah, and we thought you lot, Padma and Luna might want to join us," said Daisy.

"Join you in what? Wow, what have you done to the carriage?" Padma turned up with Luna in tow, her parents having agreed to collect the vulnerable part fae girl.

"Animagus forms," said Hermione, waving the carriage door shut and putting an imperturbable spell on it.

"You realise that's a NEWT level spell even with a wand?" drawled Draco.

"I'm a swot. One day it's going to save our lives," said Hermione.

"Actually, I don't doubt that," said Draco.

They chatted happily about what animals they hoped to be, as the train thundered on its northward path; until it suddenly came to a halt.

"Whatever can be wrong?" wondered Hermione.

"And why is it so cold?" shuddered Draco.

Hermione cancelled the locking spell and got up to see what the problem was; but before she could get to the door, a tall, cloaked figure with clawed skeletal hands started to come in.

"No, Mama, don't make me, please-please-please!" screamed Blaise.

Daisy saw a flash of green, and heard a woman pleading, 'Please don't hurt Harry, take me instead!"

Daisy screamed.

"Severus! Help!"

And then there was a CRAC and a flash of white light, and the coldness was diminishing. Severus was there, his robes billowing and a massive pearlescent cat growling and snarling coming from his wand and chasing the figure.

"Eat chocolate; I'll be back," Severus said grimly, pursuing the retreating figure. He found himself battling two more dementors, driving them away from a terrified child who had come close to being kissed, and found that Penelope Clearwater had managed a patronus of sorts to protect a carriage full of firsties, but was almost exhausted. He drove the assailants off the train.

"Nice work, Miss Clearwater, you and they need chocolate," he said, continuing through the train to ensure it was clear. Unfortunately the driver had been kissed, and Severus found himself hoping viciously that a goblin had given the dementor indigestion. The driver had a shovel in his hand, not that the train required coal, but the accoutrements of when it had been a muggle train remained. "You went down fighting, and I will make sure the Goblin Nation know it," said Severus softly to the soulless hulk. "Denny!"

The little elf appeared.

"Oh dear," he said.

"That's one way to put it," said Severus, grimly. "Pop to Gringotts and ask them for another driver; take this one, and tell them he battled to the last. Then go to Dumbledore and tell him that dementors attacked the train and that Miss Clearwater should have an award for services to the school."

"Yes Mr. Sevvy sir," said Denny, lifting the goblin and disappearing.

"I wanted to be an engine driver once," Severus murmured to himself. "But unless there's no choice it's a helluva learning curve."

Fortunately Denny quickly popped back with another goblin.

"I ain't an expert," said the goblin. "Not like my brother."

"Compared to me you are," said Severus. "I am sorry about your brother, and to intrude on your mourning to get the children safe."

"I'll mourn when I've time. Now get the hell off my footplate, squire, I've a train to drive. And ... and thanks for the message that he went down fighting."

"I hate those things," said Severus.

"Time they were got rid of," said the new goblin.

Severus withdrew and went in search of Daisy and friends.

The Daisy chain, predictably, had gone in search of all the younger children to feed them chocolate as directed.

"What was that, sir?" asked Hermione. Daisy just hugged Severus, and Draco went and leaned on him.

Severus sat down.

"That was a dementor," he said. "They guard Azkaban. They are looking for Pettigrew."

"Well he isn't here," said Daisy.

"I don' t think that the ministry has as tight a control on them as they think they have," said Severus, a trifle disconcerted that Luna had climbed onto his lap and all the children were snuggling up beside him, on the seat and sitting on the floor.

"What was that wonderful cat?" asked Daisy. She had taken possession of his other knee.

"That is a spell called a patronus," said Severus. "It drives them away, and also drives away a dark creature called a lethifold. It can be used to send messages."

"Is it always the same form as your animagus?" asked Hermione.

"No, and how do you brats know?"

"Saw you out with Moony," said Dudley, who had Millie on his lap. "How do we learn to cast it?"

Severus sighed.

"Well, a determined and talented bunch like you probably can learn. The incantation is _expecto patronum_ and the wand movement is not needed. But you need to summon a really happy thought. A thought if possible based on love. And I don't necessarily mean romantic love, it can be love of a parent, expressing their pride in your achievements."

"Or Aunt Petunia?" asked Blaise.

"Indeed, or Aunt Petunia," said Severus.

"That's what she cast at the Wizengamot," said Daisy. "I remember her telling us now."

"Yes, when Fumblebum was trying to get hold of us," said Dudley. "It's always an animal?"

"Yes, usually, but not always, furry, and not generally a magical animal," said Severus. "And the shock has upset you all too much to try now; we'll practise starting tomorrow."

They nodded. Severus rode the rest of the way with them, after checking again a couple of times on the other children.

He would be recommending that Percy Weasley should have his head boy badge stripped from him for having hidden in a carriage with several other seniors, having warded the doors more firmly than the dementors liked to bother with. They had not even bothered to round up younger children to protect them, and Severus sneered. Some Gryffindors were too cowardly to be lions, and that level of cowardice ranked as too cowardly even to run with a scarecrow, a tin man and a girl with ruby slippers.

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Rufus Scrimgeour was at the station, along with several aurors. Severus went up to him.

"You're bloody lucky I'm in a betrothal bond with an ancient and noble family," he said.

"What do you mean?" Scrimgeour frowned.

"It means I had a portkey to my betrothed which meant she wasn't kissed by one of your ruddy dementors, and I was there to go through the train and save another small child who had actually been grasped by a dementor, and to relieve the head girl who was putting up a valiant defence of a number of others. Without that portkey and warning of danger, you'd be greeting a train full of vegetables. What the devil was the idea of setting dementors onto a train full of children?"

Scrimgeour paled.

"They weren't supposed to be after the train, I am putting dementors around the school in case Pettigrew goes for revenge."

"Minister, if you don't withdraw them immediately, I will be declaring a blood feud on your house from the families Prince and Potter. I expect Dagworth-Granger, Longbottom and Malfoy will join me in this, since the heirs to all were being menaced when I arrived."

"But ..."

"Immediately, Minister, or I'll see you burn," said Severus, his eyes blazing. "Whose stupid idea was it to put dementors anywhere near children of adolescent age whose crazy hormonal emotions make them immediate prey? Because I suggest you first check anyone who had such an idea for sympathy to Voldemort because of the myth that purebloods can control their emotions better, and at the very least sack the piece of shit who came up with this."

"It ... it was Rookwood," said Scrimgeour. "He ... he is an Unspeakable, so ... You think he might be a sympathiser to You-Know-Who?"

"I do know who and his nom de guerre is Voldemort, or if you prefer his real name, Tom Riddle," said Severus. "And yes, I think he might be. You see, there is this widely promulgated idea that because pure bred children are taught occlumensy they can control their emotions well enough to be avoided by dementors, who would then kiss the muggle-born preferentially. This is hocus pocus, because occlumency fails before dementors in children this young. My betrothed is one of the best trained occlumenses of her age, and my godson, Draco Malfoy is not far behind, and they were helpless before these horrors. Get them the fuck out of our school."

"Er, yes, of course, professor," said Scrimgeour.

He had not considered what might happen if some of the most powerful families in the country decided to take this personally.

Severus gave a grim and rather brittle smile.

"You might get further with a chunk of cheese and a rat trap," he suggested. "Oh, and good luck explaining to the Goblin Nation why the train driver was kissed. I would suggest a hefty wergild to his brother might allay a blood feud from his Clan."

Scrimgeour was sweating hard.

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The students did not worry about why their professor was talking to some old man – few of them recognised the Minister – they were just excited to be back. They happily boarded the thestral-drawn carriages as the first years went with Hagrid to the boat.

Sorting involved one little girl who took a long while before she was declared into Slytherin, and the Slytherin members of the Daisy chain found this interesting.

"A long conversation with the hat usually means you are an interesting person," said Daisy. The child, a pale girl with messy black plaits, flushed.

"Oh, I don't know about that," she said. "But I wanted to be in Slytherin so I argued."

"Shows a Slytherin-like ambition and tenacity," said Daisy. "Where did it want to put you?"

"Gryffindor. But I wanted to be in the house with the wonderful house head who rescued me, he's so very kind, I'll feel less homesick."

"Professor Snape is kind, he's also stern," said Daisy. "I'm Daisy Evans," she introduced everyone else. "What's your name?"

"Amy Price. Magic is very exciting, isn't it?"

"It is, and because we have to keep it secret we have a different culture, but don't worry, there are etiquette classes so you don't insult anyone accidentally. Far better to only insult people on purpose."

Amy giggled.

"I wouldn't want to be rude," she said. "Well, not without meaning it."

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Percy Weasley, unfortunately, was happy to be rude in his own way, having failed to learn much from Augusta Longbottom. Unfortunately, although Percy was full of praise for the way Madam Longbottom had disciplined his younger brothers, he was unable to see that he had a lumberyard's quota of timber in his own eyes.

Amy fell foul of him when casting a shield spell the Daisy Chain had taught her which he saw, to defend against a stinging hex from a Gryffindor firstie, which he did not, and docked her points for casting spells in the corridor.

Sobbing she went back to her common room for justice, and Severus reversed the docked points.

Daisy went to have a word with Percy.

"Is it now forbidden to defend against spells fired at one, Mr. Weasley?" she asked. "Or did you deduct more points from the kid who fired a stinger at Miss Price?"

"I saw no stinging hex fired; obviously a child who comes to school already knowing spells must be from one of the darker families, and I felt a need to discourage her from attacking her fellows," said Percy.

"The kid is muggleborn," said Daisy. "And I taught her the shield charm the first night we were here. Since when is the shield charm an offensive spell?"

"She should have called a teacher to report any jinx used on her."

"Oh, really? What if it was a nasty one? She should have dodged but there were other people there so that was harder."

"You are insolent, Miss Evans."

"And you are a disgrace to your badge, in my opinion, and you cannot dock points for an opinion if expressed in a respectful tone and without swearing, so I suggest you take the thought of it out of your head, Mr. Weasley," said Daisy. "A pity Aunt Augusta didn't manage to teach you decent behaviour as well as she did your brothers, but there you are."

"Detention!"

"You can't issue detentions, and you have nothing to dock points for. If you do, when it's written up in the book, I will complain to my head of house."

"I consider you and your friends to be unruly and insolent."

"I note your opinion, Mr. Weasley," said Daisy. "I had hoped to appeal to your sense of fairness, but apparently it atrophied somewhere along the way in inverse proportion to your sense of self-worth."

Percy spluttered but could find nothing to say.

It took him more than a week to discover that people were treating him with exaggerated caution and sympathy.

It took nearly two weeks to discover from a serious-minded and sympathetic firstie that his bad manners and mood were not his fault, since he was hormonal as a result of being magically pregnant by Rufus Scrimgeour.

Percy was not amused but he could not prove who had started this rumour. It takes a Slytherin to manage to discuss _sotto voce_ in the library what a 'big girl' had said, when Lavender Brown was earwigging behind the library shelves.

Unfortunately, instead of making a point and imbuing Percy with a degree of humility, the head boy [whose badge read 'big-head boy' courtesy of the twins] asked permission to speak in the great hall, and solemnly declared that any rumours about his supposed gravid state were unfounded, and indeed, silly.

"Ha, you manage to be a prat without hormones?" called Fred.

"And you admit it! Hurrah for your honesty!" added George.

"Gentlemen, I do have to uphold the honour of the head boy and suggest a week's detention with Professor Snape," said Dumbledore.

The twins exchanged looks and shrugged.

They were surprised to find the Daisy Chain in the dungeon when they reported for detention.

"We got given permission to supervise your detention," said Daisy. "You have a project which we are allowed to help you with, since plainly perfect Percy's poo doesn't smell and his farts are pure gold, to make sure that anything he leaves in the pan won't flush until it has sung a paean of praise to Percy, with as much alliteration as possible, and so every fart turns into golden sparkles. We already started."

"Did Professor Snape ..."

"Really devise this, or ..."

"Are you pranking us and ..."

"He's about to sweep in and wax irritable?"

"He didn't devise it but he did say we could have a free hand in arranging your detentions to be as fruitful as possible, because Percy makes his palms sweat," said Dudley.

"Right," said Fred.

"We're on," said George.

It did not take a whole week of detentions and Percy found that when ever he sat on the toilet, once he got going, he was assailed by,

" _I am too perfect for my poo_

 _Too_ _ **prefect**_ _for my poo_

 _Perfection in the pan_

 _Praise Percy for his poo!"_ .

He was not aware of his sparkly effluvium and nobody told him.

The sparkly effluvium only got worse when he tried to hold it in, and he ended up having to go to Madam Pomfrey over his constipation, and spent half a day in the hospital ward listening to scatological praises.

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It might have been assumed that any reasonable person rebuked by his own bodily waste might take a lesson in humility. Unfortunately, as soon as the effect wore off Percy, his response was to become more officious than ever, in response to the attack upon his dignity.

The Daisy Chain sent notes round to all the juniors, and the Weasley twins, marked with an inked flaming sword which burned and consumed the note as soon as it was read, so there was no evidence.

The first to third year convened in an unused classroom designated for the indignation meeting. It was early in the morning, and some of them were yawning, but even Ron Weasley turned up.

Daisy stood on the teacher's desk after having cast privacy charms on the classroom and _colloportus_ on the door.

"Is there anyone here who doesn't think Percy Weasley is out of hand?" she asked.

"They're the dippier Ravenclaws who didn't bother to come," said Padma. Being Ravenclaw herself, the judgement on the dippiness of her fellows was held to be fair enough.

"How many people has Percy personally punished or told off unfairly?" asked Daisy.

This was close to half.

"He docked points from me for using a healing spell in the corridors when I twisted my ankle on the false stair," said a Hufflepuff second year, resentfully. "Said no kid my age knows healing spells, and I was lying to get myself out of trouble, and I told him he could do _priori incantatem_ on my wand if he wanted. My parents are both healers."

"He probably can't cast _priori incantatem,_ " said Daisy. "Right, this is a cross house thing, and we are all going to lose points, but if we all lose points it's fair. And I know that though he's less unfair to some Gryff juniors he comes down like a ton of bricks on his brothers."

"What had you got ..."

"In mind?" asked the twins.

"We are going to treat him as though he doesn't exist," said Daisy. "He likes being head boy because it makes him feel big. If we treat him as NOTHING, he really won't like it. Whatever he says, pretend you can't hear it. When he asks for explanations or tells you off, just wander off without acknowledging his presence."

"Won't we get into fearful trouble?" asked a small Gryffindor.

"If anyone gets into trouble it'll be those of us who are the instigators and we're used to trouble," said Daisy. "If McGonagall asks, tell her that ignoring poltergeists is the best way to deal with them, and plainly a poltergeist has taken Mr. Weasley's form as no reasonable prefect would act like he does."

The little ones giggled nervously.

"Can we say that, too?" asked a Ravenclaw child.

"Yes, why not? It's a good way of getting the point across without sounding disrespectful to a teacher," said Daisy. "Any more questions? No? Good, hop to breakfast and sweet revenge."

It was several days before Percy started getting really upset and irritated, having contented himself with taking points from sundry juniors. He was considering asking for help from a teacher when his own little sister ignored him in front of Madam McGonagall. The Deputy Head had been wondering why all the houses were on negative points.

"Miss Weasley! Your brother deserves the respect of his office as head boy!" snapped McGonagall.

"Oh, I'm sure he does, but that's not my brother," said Ginny. "It can't be; no reasonable prefect would behave the way that poltergeist has been behaving. It's hidden my brother somewhere in order to cause mayhem. I mean, what normal prefect punishes a kid for using a healing spell and refuses to even cast _priori incantatem_ to check? It was plainly an excuse to cause distress. And what normal person docks house points for talking too loudly in the corridor? Or for casting a shield spell when jinxed, but failing to deal with the jinx caster? What normal prefect docks points for 'looking like a rabble' or for having untidy hair? It's not human."

McGonagall rounded on Percy.

"Is this true, Mr. Weasley?" she hissed.

"Of course not! Well, the brat who said she was casting a healing spell was lying of course, no second year knows healing spells, and well, as to the rest, I don't believe for one moment the Slytherin brat was just defending, she must have started it, Slytherin always do. The Evans chit said she was a muggleborn, but that's ridiculous, no muggleborn go into Slytherin. And one has to maintain proper standards in the corridors."

"Mr. Weasley, would the second year in question happen to be little Fiona Hubble of Hufflepuff, whose parents are healers, and who has knowledge to rival many a fifth year in healing spells?" asked McGonagall.

Percy's ears went red.

"I, er, I don't know her name, but she was a Huffer," he said.

"And the Slytherin was little Amy Price, she is a muggleborn and the older members of Slytherin house teach the shield charm to all their firsties as soon as they can," said Ginny.

"Indeed, Miss Price is a delightful child," said McGonagall. "Maintaining standards? Since when have you been a grooming mirror, Mr. Weasley? I am most displeased. Miss Weasley, spread the word to your confederates that the passive resistance was clever, effective, and will cease. There will be no need for it any longer since Mr. Weasley has forfeited his position as head boy and prefect for conduct unbecoming."

"But Madam McGonagall! _My_ conduct is exemplary!"

"Mr. Weasley, a bully should never be head boy, and you have admitted to bullying. You are no longer head boy, and you are in detention writing out all the ways in which you have abused your position. And heaven help you if you do not manage to figure out how you have done so."

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Madam McGonagall thought long and hard, and asked Arthur Weasley to come to talk to his son. Molly's influence of continual criticism had given Percy a very wrong moral compass, and he needed to put it into perspective.

Arthur took his son into Hogsmeade and bought him a small firewhisky.

"I'm going to treat you like an adult, son, and hope you can respond as one," he said. "I know it's been very unsettling over the last couple of years, and you wanted to be a leader and imprint your stamp on Hogwarts. And one day you'll be a parent, and you will want to show your children right from wrong. And your mother and I failed you, because you were the quiet one between the two noisier ones ahead of you, and the difficulty of raising twins just a couple of years younger than you. We gave you instructions without explanations, and that was wrong of us. It didn't help that your mother has been ill all these years and we did not realise until Heir Longbottom pointed it out. I won't be sharing this with the younger ones, but she feels tremendously guilty about her behaviour."

"I'm still not sure what was wrong with her behaviour or in what way she was ill, father," said Percy.

"Well, you have to admit, it's not normal to send howlers to people for every minor indiscretion, is it?" said Arthur, running a hand through his thin hair. "Nor is it normal to loom over people and screech at them, nor to treat all of you as though you were still six. Bill and Charlie have visited, and admit that they both took jobs that would take them as far away from home as possible because they disliked being treated as though they were still children."

"Oh!" said Percy. "I thought they picked lucrative jobs because they didn't want to end up ..." he flushed.

"Poor like us because I choose to do a job which is as necessary for the security of our society as being an auror is but without the glamour or danger pay?" asked Arthur.

Percy gaped.

"It's just messing around with muggle stuff, isn't it?" he said.

"No." Arthur frowned. "I like messing around with muggle stuff – as a hobby. And I've been learning far more than I could ever learn in muggle studies from the muggle mind healer who has been helping your mother. Which has actually helped me with my job, too, because now I know better how e-lec-tric-al things," he pronounced it carefully, "are supposed to work, I can understand better how to keep people safe. There are some very stupid people in our society, who think it's funny to prank muggles, and whatever the twins may do, they have never sunk so low. Yesterday I was in a muggle version of Madam Primpernelle's, because muggles don't have drying charms, they have machines to dry their hair. Some cruel individual had jinxed the seats to hold them still and the drying helmets to get far hotter than they should do. It almost caused a death, and could have put the unfortunate lady who owns the business out of a job. I've learned enough now that I didn't have to call in the obliviators, I was able to say that a power surge had caused a short, and signed a paper to that effect for the lady's insurance, so she won't be left out of pocket. As well, of course, as removing the charms, and logging the wand signature of a near murderer."

"Well, I'm sorry for the muggles, but, how does it protect our society?"

"Because if muggles, who aren't stupid, managed to figure out it was a wizard, especially those who have been obliviated, because the strong-willed can overcome that block, then we could be facing pogrums and war which make the insanity of the 17th century witch hunts look like an affectionate rivalry."

"I suppose I hadn't thought of it that way," said Percy. "I just see the people in the ministry who laugh at you."

"Let them; they are the fools," said Arthur. "A man who knows he is doing a good job, son, doesn't need to put on a false dignity. He doesn't feel slighted by childish comments. Especially childish comments by children."

Percy went red.

"You are saying I've been over-reacting."

"Well, son, Minerva gave me a look at the prefect book and what you've taken points for, and most of it seems too trivial to even notice, or comment on. Kids are scruffy! They need to be dressed appropriately for classes, but seriously? Otherwise? Unless you have a teenage girl dressed like a whore, and acting like one, there's nothing to worry about. And in her case, the worry you should be worrying is what the hell have her parents done to her to make her act like that. And there is another unpalatable thing I have to say." Arthur hesitated. "You have accused several children of lying, and it appears to be unfounded. There is a saying that a miser calls others on venality, a thief calls others on dishonesty, and a liar calls others on untruthfulness. And much of the time it's true, because people see their own vices in other people. I do not want to assume my son is a liar."

Percy's flush drained and he went pale.

"I don't tell lies, dad!" he said, shocked. "I ... I didn't see how they could be telling the truth."

"You know," said Arthur, "I would rather be a man who assumes other people tell the truth unless proven as liars. I might watch certain people closely, people like Lucius Malfoy, but he has given me no reason to believe he has anything but the good of our society at heart, recently, even though he doesn't go about it the way I would. I think he lied about being under the Imperius Curse, but I also think he has realised he was wrong and is going a long way to put things right. For which I am very glad, as I have received a betrothal request from him for Ginny to marry his Draco."

Percy paled.

"You can't be serious!" he gasped. "Why, it's bad enough that Ginny sorted in with the snakes ..."

"Why shouldn't she? She's clever and cunning and ambitious. If she wants this betrothal, I'll agree to it. From all her letters she has said nothing that give me any disrespect for Draco Malfoy, who seems to be a reasonable youth. It was the Slytherin who stood up to exorcise the spirit of Voldemort from Professor Quirrell after all. The twins were mightily impressed by their grasp of ritual. Don't wince; it's only a name and I'm damn well going to disrespect him by using it."

"But ... but snakes are dark." Percy was secretly rather proud of his father's courage in using Voldemort's nom de guerre.

"There are dark houses in House Slytherin; there are also grey ones, and you cannot deny that the Evans family, with its Potter connections, are light. The Evans family takes its talent for potioneering into a potioneer's house. The house which behaved badly enough to look dark was house Weasley when Ronald behaved so badly to Heir Longbottom, and encouraged others, er, down the dark path. And you did nothing about that, did you?"

"Well, Neville was going around with snakes."

"And badgers and eagles, as I recall, and the snakes offered him sanctuary because he felt unsafe in his own school house. A house which also gave rise to Peter Pettigrew, the reason this village is surrounded with aurors and dementors, in case you'd forgotten. And I'm wondering if your refusal to accept that people are dark, or grey, or light, not school houses, is anything to do with having slept so close to someone with a dark mark for so many years."

Percy paled.

"I had no idea Scabbers was an animagus!" he squeaked.

"No, but the evil in his dark mark was there, nonetheless, and might have worked on you, subconsciously," said Arthur.

"I'm not dark! I'm not! Am I, dad?" Percy looked close to tears.

"No, but you need pulling up before you become too fond of yourself and become dark," said Arthur. "I love you, son. Your mother loves you. If push came to shove, your brothers and sisters would realise that they love you, if you were in dire need of help, even if they don't like you very much right now. You don't need to be a prefect or head boy or minister of magic for us all to love you, we love Percy, not Percy's Position. And you are in dire need of help, though the younger ones don't realise it, because you need to understand that. You don't need to act like a dark lord, throwing out punishments because you can, for us to love you."

Percy fainted.

Arthur cast _rennervate_ on him, and sat beside his son with his arm round him.

"I ... Oh, Dad! Is it being like a dark lord?"

"Just a bit, son," said Arthur. "Let me tell you a bit about Severus Snape. He's given me permission to help prevent you from joining the Death Eaters. When he was your age, he felt as though he had nothing in life, despite being on track to be the youngest Potions Master ever, because he was being heavily ragged – bullied, really, by people who should have known better, just because he was a Slytherin and dirt poor. In desperation he fell for the flattery of the wrong sort of people, because Voldemort was looking for a potioneer. He soon realised what he had got himself into, and the final straw was discovering that Voldemort planned to target James and Lily Potter and their son, because of a prophecy. You've had extra potions lessons with Professor Snape and you wrote to me that he was a good teacher, if strict, so I know you respect him. He said to me that you are a fine scholar bogged down by a piss-poor attitude, he has quite colourful language when not with children! And he told me of his own experiences because he knows you had considered a ministry career, and the ministry is riddled with secret death eaters. He was afraid of you being recruited because you would see it as a bolster to your ego. He told me that he had some idea how you were feeling."

Percy wept.

"I ... I'm sure I wouldn't be a death eater, Dad."

"If it were as simple as being asked 'would you like to put on a cloak and mask and torture muggles?' I am certain you would say no, in no uncertain terms. But suppose someone spent a year flattering you, with or without a will-weakening potion slipped in your tea, working on your resentments about my job, persuading you to blame the muggles who fascinate me, bringing down a pureblood wizard and his family, pointing out that nobody gives you enough credit, and it's all your buffoon of a father's fault?"

"Dad! I would not ..." Percy flushed. He had been irritated by his father's obsession with muggle things, and ashamed of him.

Arthur nodded sadly.

"Severus has been that road," he said. "In a way, because you are ambitious, it might have been better if you had been sorted into Slytherin, because he understands ambition, and how to direct it productively. And," he sighed, "He might have realised earlier that your mother needed help if you'd been one of his."

Percy opened and shut his mouth several times.

"Would ... wouldn't you and mum have been angry?" he asked.

"I wouldn't," said Arthur. "I was nervous for Ginny in the snake pit, but she has been so well taken care of I've lost all concern. Your mother would probably have sent a howler."

Percy paled. He had taken great care to avoid one of his mother's howlers.

"And then Professor Snape would have had her arrested earlier for child abuse," he said.

"Yes. And my sons and daughter might not have needed a mind healer."

"I ... I turned down the mind healer when Aunt Augusta offered it," said Percy.

"Do you think that was a wise decision?"

"In retrospect, no."

"Then I'll arrange some sessions over the holidays for you," said Arthur.

"Thank you, Dad; I appreciate that," said Percy. "You've given me a lot to think about."

"You're a man, now; and a father is supposed to help his sons be the best men that they can be, and I've been letting you down. I hope this talk has gone some way towards me shaping up as a father, instead of hiding from your mother in my shed."

"I thought you loved her?"

"I do, but I haven't always liked her much," said Arthur. "It's the illness. I've always found it difficult to express my feelings, which is why we brewed a love potion together when I managed to ask her to be my girl, to help me deal with my inhibitions. Never think our love was potion generated, however carelessly your mother talks about using a potion to catch me! She thinks it's funny, but it isn't really. Not if you think about how some people use love potions. But she wasn't the Mollywobbles I knew and loved, and I didn't know how to tell her, so I took the coward's way out and hid."

"You aren't a coward, dad, and thanks for not leaving us all. And thanks for this talk; I think I understand things a lot more." He held out his hand and Arthur shook it, warmly.

Percy knew what he had to do.

He asked if he might address the school, at supper, so he could not lose his nerve.

He stood, and cleared his throat.

"I wanted to say I'm sorry I've been a prize idiot and ... and a bully. I'm not saying this to get my badge back because I really don't deserve it. But I hope I can earn the respect of you all for being a good person, not for being an officious prefect. I will do better."

He was surprised to have thunderous applause. And when he returned to the Gryffindor table, the twins both slapped him on the back.

"Percy, you grew ..."

"A pair of cast iron ones ..."

"And we respect you no end ..."

"For managing to stand up and say that," the last in chorus.

Percy felt satisfied with himself in a genuine sort of way for the first time, and he knew that he did love his twin brothers.

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"Severus," said Daisy, as she rested between attempts to cast a patronus, "Wouldn't all the kneazles in magical Britain be more use in seeking out a magical rat than dementors? Uncle Sirius says they couldn't see him when he was in animagus form, do you really think Peter Pettigrew is stupid enough not to make use of that?"

"Daisy, I hate to say 'out of the mouths of babes and sucklings', but I have to say the pure, unadulterated thought of young people can be amazingly clear when compared to the so-called subtleties of the adults in the case."

"Well, can we go out and buy a heap of kneazles, and then let them choose kids who can't afford familiars when they've caught Scabbers?" said Daisy. "Wormtail, I mean."

"I think we should do just that," said Severus. "It's so simple and brilliant. I'm not convinced that Wormtail, and such an appropriate soubriquet that is, will come for revenge, but for sanctuary, because he knows Hogwarts so well, and because there is always food to be had. He might seek out a remnant of his old master, but not until he is fit and healthy."

The castle was shortly overrun with kneazles, and as the dementors did not bother with animals they were able to range outside as well. At Severus, suggestion, Daisy and Dudley also called to any snakes on the moor and in the forbidden forest, and asked them to pass on that a rat missing a toe would bring them reward if found.

"And it's a pity that Professor McGonagall doesn't speak cat as well as being one," said Dudley. "That is so cool! I so want to be an animagus."

"Be aware that you don't choose your form; it chooses you," said Severus. "There are influences in your life though; James Potter was a stag, and he was probably influenced by the Potter arms, which has the Lovatt stag as one quarter, since Fraser of Lovatt has some magical connections. If ... if there is anything akin to a soul bond, it is not unusual for a form to be similar."

Daisy squealed with delight.

"I get to be a panther?" she cooed.

"Or a jaguar or lynx or tiger, or possibly a domestic cat," said Severus. "Because the bond is not established."

"Oh well, all cats are dead cool," said Daisy. "Poor Uncle Sirius, having to be a dog; I'd rather be a rat than a dog, at least rats are clean creatures. Dogs are so ..." she wrinkled her nose, "... so indiscriminate. And they smell."

Severus laughed.

"I don't doubt someone as fastidious as you will be a cat."

"So long as I'm not something like a warthog, I guess anything is good," said Dudley. "Not sure I want to be a reptile, either. I can talk to snakes, but their thoughts are very alien."

"Don't legilimens them then," giggled Daisy.

"Prat, you know what I mean," said Dudley.

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When a grizzled old kneazle, whom Severus had named 'Alastor' because the one-eyed, draggle-eared, three-legged cat reminded him of Mad-Eye Moody, dragged a 9-toed rat into the dungeons, he was given much petting. And Severus confined Pettigrew, and called Scrimgeour.

"We got your rat for you," he said to the Minister. "NO thanks to the dementors. We used the rat's natural enemy; kneazles. Please don't lose him this time."

It gave him much pleasure to say this.

Scrimgeour recinded the order on the dementors within minutes and came through the floo with a contingent of aurors to take control of the miserable rat.

Alastor the Kneazle moved firmly in with Severus.

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Peter Pettigrew was sent through the veil, and nobody missed him. Severus muttered that the passing of the horcruxes through the veil would deal with them adequately but the Unspeakables were loath to destroy heirlooms like the Founders' items. Severus and his closest disciples rolled their collective eyes and went to work on adapting the ritual to remove the dark mark to unravel bits of Tom Riddle.

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Severus had not abandoned his work on the Wolfsbane potion, and he finally thought he might have got there. Remus Lupin nervously downed his potion, and Severus locked him in the cell off the potions dungeon for the full moon. It had a window magically directing the light of the moon in to it for full effect.

The moon rose and Remus yipped a couple of times, felt his hair stand on end, and sat down suddenly.

"Severus? What happened? Did I miss anything?" he asked.

"Apart from making noises like a puppy which has had its nose smacked? Nothing noticeable," said Severus. "You're staying there all night."

"Understood," said Remus. "My hands aren't shaking."

"Excellent," said Severus. "I'll be getting on with some work, there are novels in your cell, but if I was you, I'd use the opportunity to sleep."

"I will," said Remus. "Is this a full cure, Severus?"

"I doubt it but at least it means that the Daisy chain's friend, Lucy, can come to school," said Severus.

"That explains your working on it so hard, I didn't think I'd become that good a friend to you," said Remus.

"It's you too, you stupid wolf," said Severus. "I've been sending each phase to Lucy after testing on you, and to St Mungo's for their voluntary incarcerated monthly patients. And you are what Daisy calls 'family', so yes, it is for you, too. But I confess, the idea of a child going through what I've watched you go through does wring my heart. And don't you _ever_ tell anyone that I have one."

"Of course not, Severus," said Remus. "It would never do for the body of the school to find out what only the rest of the Slytherin and sundry of their protégés know."

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Severus managed to blackmail Dumbledore into letting little Lucy Clagg come to school partway through the term, and pointed out that even if she had not been doing lessons at home, she was unlikely to need more remedial work than Vince Crabbe. Greg Goyle was keeping up well with help from his fellow badgers and the rest of the Daisy Chain.

The adults of the Daisy Chain made ruthless use of Lucius and his political ambitions, and Lucy was a cover-girl for Rufus Scrimgeour's policy of fairness, and backlash against the likes of the late Umbridge, and had to endure being photographed with the Minister and Severus, the 'brilliant Potions Master' who endorsed the Minister's policies; and Lucius was putting up half the cost of the newest potion, so that from the new school year, if all went well with Lucy, werewolf children would also have automatic rights to come to Hogwarts.

Lucius had hardly needed any fast talking to see how advantageous it would be to have the support of a group who had hitherto cleaved to the Dark Lord. Besides, Draco had met Lucy, a shrewd move on Daisy's and Hermione's part, and had declared her a good kid, and a waste of wizarding blood not to be at school. Lucy was descended from a chieftainess of the Wizards Council, before it was renamed as the Wizengamot, a family which had virtually died out, and Lucius was quite happy to champion a pure blood witch with unfortunate viral complications.

Accordingly, Lucy was sorted firmly into Slytherin House with her friends, and was seen to be quite equal to keeping up.

Daisy had made the quidditch team that year; some of Slytherin's seniors were prejudiced against girls, but when Daisy put together an impromptu team of her friends and proceeded to whip the official team, attitudes had to change.

Millie now joined Dudley as a beater, and Daisy was now a chaser and second string seeker to Viktor, and Pucey slunk off to lick his wounds. Fortunately Pusey was a better team player than he was a sulker, and continued to cheer the team, and play on a second squad to give the first team more practise. Flint intimated that he felt that Viktor should have his spot as team captain when he left, having repeated a year, and apologised to Daisy and Millie for following traditional attitudes.

"Well, you could see what was in front of your face, which a true bigot can't," said Daisy. "And we'll make sure to get you well show-cased so you get picked by a scout."

Flint was not an academic, and his main hope of a job was in quidditch.

"Thanks," he said. "Krum is likely to be scouted; I know that his home country already had an eye on him."

"He was promised a spot on the Bulgaria team this year if he would return to Durmstrang," said Daisy.

Flint stared.

"I ... I did not know that," he said. "He is a loyal man to stand with us."

"Yes, and if England's rules were less rigid and they had let him play at weekends and holidays, I wager England will still be in the World Cup," said Daisy. "I wrote to the Irish team and asked them to send scouts for him and you both. What we need to do, you, me and Draco, is to come up with some Chaser plays which will wow the scouts. I want to be cheering you both on in the World Cup and Ireland is the only British team in with a shout right now."

"We'll do it," said Flint. "I am sorry I passed you over. I should have remembered the Daisy Chain works miracles."

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The Daisy Chain pulled no more japes until Lucy was caught up, which left the staff and the Ravenclaws somewhere between relieved that there had been nothing untoward happening to them, and worried about when something would. It was therefore more of a surprise – or shock, depending on which way you looked at it – when the Daisy Chain considered Lucy to be sufficiently caught up, and released a late Spring prank on the school. As the Eagles had been behaving themselves, and the Lions were mostly neutralised, this was designed purely for the enjoyment, or otherwise, of the whole school.

Being as fond of potion-based japes as of runic ones, the prank involved both, and involved turning water into whine, the spelling being quite intended.

Every time any beverage was quaffed, it complained about being disturbed, and carried on moaning until it was in the stomach.

The moaning on the Gryffindor table was in broad Scots; on the Slytherin table prolixic and erudite, on the Hufflepuff table contained references to dung, and on the Ravenclaw table was in Gobbledegook, which was lost on everyone except Luna, who somehow spoke the language of the goblins, but which delighted Flitwick.

The staff table were treated to the same erudite prolixity which characterised the Slytherin drinks, just because the Daisy chain thought it was funny. The headmaster was informed by his tea that it was an insupportable act of ineffable contumely to disturb the rest of an inoffensive brew and send it without a by-your-leave on a most revolting mission through his alimentary canal blinked and said,

"Bless my soul! However did they manage that?"

Severus, who had heard enough of the speech to catch the reference to the headmaster's digestion, said,

"Alimentary, my dear fellow."

The reference passed Dumblebore by completely.

"Why, I fear this alimentary is not a branch of magic I know," he said. "Pray enlighten me, Severus."

"It's a word referring to your digestive system," said Severus. "As digestion begins in the mouth with salivary amylase, I assume that whatever is in the drinks is activated thereby, which suggests a starch component. Quite ingenious. And harmless too, which is always pleasing."

On Slytherin table, Daisy was less pleased.

"Oh bother!" she said. "We should have had the drinks on this table speaking in Parseltongue."

"More fun for people to understand the complaints though," said Dudley. "I fancy we might have been too clever using Gobbledegook on the Ravers."

"A point," said Daisy. She shrugged. "Oh, well, they will be frustrated in not understanding it, which will put them in the sort of mood of irritable irrationality we want them in when playing against our team tomorrow."

"Hell, yes," said Dudley. "Flint told Viktor to catch the snitch or die trying."

"Yes, but he was only quoting Wood in Gryffindor, who tried that one on their seeker, who now isn't their seeker any more because he upset her too much," said Daisy. "Neville was upset about it, but I said the best revenge was for us to cream Gryffindor."

"Which we should do," said Dudley. "We have a young team, but we are pretty good."

The match against Ravenclaw was of particular interest to Flint and Krum as there were scouts from Ireland there. Flint had no expectation of getting any world cup games in even if he was chosen, but he was hoping to be second string, and to have a place on an Irish team, like the Tara Terrors. However, the one weakness of the Irish team was their seeker, and Krum was easily better than any of the professional level seekers at national level, and arguably at international level too. His native Bulgaria was out of the cup for the want of a good seeker too, and the Daisy Chain, including Severus, had been devising a number of safeguards for the courtesy member of the Prince family. Viktor carried several amulets of protection and emergency portkeys, including one implanted under the skin activated by a rune set off by a wandless and non verbal spell to touch it, which Viktor had practised assiduously until he could do it perfectly. It took him to a safe room in Prince Manor, which was a holiday venue, like Potter Manor, for the family, and was maintained by a pair of rather cranky elves. As Viktor was also keyed to the blood of the Prince family through blood adoption, they could be called on to help him if Bulgaria decided that defection was not acceptable for a talented young player. And as Dan Granger pointed out, Bulgaria was the muggle country which devised most of the kidnapping and killing for their Soviet masters until the USSR broke up and there was no reason to suppose that their magical counterparts were any less nefarious.

Indeed as a result, the Asterix-reading Daisy chain had dubbed the suspicious looking foreigners in trench coats hanging around Hogsmeade 'Nefarius Purpus' and 'Insalubrius'.

Pranking them had been easy. Getting Viktor to write out in Bulgarian a notice of a reward of G5000 for the capture of a crumple-horned snorkack and embedding in it a compulsion to apparate to the Ministry and demand to turn themselves in to the DMLE was the sort of thing that runes were made for.

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The match was a whitewash. The Ravenclaw chasers were good, and got a few scores in, but Flint flew like one inspired, and Daisy and Draco fed him quaffles, scoring a few themselves when it was expedient, but mostly showcasing Flint; and Krum caught the snitch before Cho Chang of Ravenclaw was even aware he had seen it.

As he had already caused her to crash with the tightest Wronski feint any of the Slytherin had ever seen, she proceeded to throw a royal hissy fit. So angry was she, that she actually was hissing insults almost well enough, said Daisy, to be a Parselmouth. Cho had no idea why the Daisy Chain proceeded to call her Sid, as she had never heard of Captain Beaky and his Band.

The Tara Terrors signed two new players, and Krum was to be playing professionally once his father had given permission.

Almost as exciting for two of Slytherin House were the births of Septimus Weasley and Cassiopeia Malfoy.

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The morning before the Easter holidays was somewhat disrupted by the fact that everyone's shoes had turned into Easter Bunnies and were hopping about happily of their own accord. It had been Hermione who had applied the idea of a protean charm to every piece of footwear in the castle, and though it had worn off before breakfast, bunnies being bunnies, there had been a few unforeseen circumstances, such as the case of Draco's Spanish leather loafers, which were caught in flagrante delicto with Pansy Parkinson's new court shoes.

"EWWWW!" wailed Pansy.

"Draco, your shoes are sluts," said Ginny, disapprovingly.

"Well, don't blame me, Daisy's trainers are humping Millie's slippers," said Draco.

As there appeared to be no rhyme or reason for one shoe choosing another for their amorous adventures, no romances were broken, at least, not in Slytherin House.

It may be recorded that Cho Chang broke up with Cedric Diggory when she heard that his quidditch shoes had ravished those of Katie Bell in the school sports lockers.

Pranks had to stop after the holidays as it was unfair to OWL and NEWT candidates to disrupt them. The examiners this year did check chairs and lavatories to avoid whoopee cushions and black face soap, as well as the standard _finite_ to clear their common room of spells; unfortunately for them, they did not check the refreshments brought to them, which had certain substitutions, based on the Weasley twins' canary custards, but with a bit more variety. Mr. Tofty still had black feathers on the backs of his hands, and Madam Marchbank still had a beak, but Mr. Tofty was exceedingly pleased, as the transformation into a raven and back had removed the ugly mole on his face, and the pain inside he had been nervous about taking to St Mungo's had entirely disappeared.

And before anyone knew it, the end of term had come, and it only wanted the Daisy Chain to arrange a traditional send off.

The chain had discovered hieroglyphs, and as every pupil left the doors, they proceeded to the carriages walking like Egyptians, wearing appropriate headgear.

"Mischief managed," said Daisy.

 **End of year 3**


	6. Chapter 6

_I know this is short; I apologise, I wanted to get to a stopping place when I ran stale  
_

 **Year 4**

 **The World Cup**

There was no way the Daisy Chain were not going to be cheering on Ireland in the Quidditch world cup, featuring Slytherin's own Viktor Krum as seeker, and with Slytherin's own Marcus Flint as a second string chaser.

The Irish were playing Brazil, a raucous lot, whose mascots were jungle fae of a rather feral kind, snarling jaguar spirits. It was much easier to warm to the genial leprechauns of the Irish, even if the gold they tossed about was rather transitory.

The match was a little anticlimactic, with the Irish outscoring the Brazilians and Krum catching the snitch within half an hour of the start of the match! The Brazilians were not good losers, and stormed off when the Irish captain offered to play a couple of exhibition matches for the entertainment of the crowd.

A quick huddle had Ireland's second string players lining up to play the starter team, just to entertain, something the crowd appreciated, and there were cheers for every good play, whichever side made them. Flint was in his element, doing something he had never ever dreamed that he might do for real, playing quidditch in front of his own countrymen at an international match. Flint was currently a man who would walk in front of an _Avada Kedavra_ for Daisy, who had organised the Irish scouts.

Rufus Scrimgeour managed a sour smile for Viktor Krum Prince, introducing his 'uncle', Severus Snape. Viktor was the hero of the hour, but Scrimgeour still felt sour over his humiliations in regards to the dementor debacle of the year before. Severus Snape-Prince was not someone Scrimgeour was comfortable with, any more than he was comfortable with Lucius Malfoy. However, he was polite enough. Severus Snape also was accounted a friend of the Goblin Nation, which confused Scrimgeour no end. He also hated having to deal with a Goblin who was dressed as casually and stylishly as Lucius Malfoy, and who sported a tie pin which subtly declared him a vassal of Houses Potter and Peverell. The Potter-Black alliance in the Wizengamot was very powerful, with votes from the newly-reappeared Dagworth-Granger family, the Peverell seat, and including in the alliance the Prince, Longbottom, Bones, Abbott and Macmillan seats.

Daisy and her family loved wizarding tents. It was fun to camp out with all their friends before returning home the next day, the portkeys staggered to avoid trouble. And it was highly amusing to watch Narcissa Malfoy and Molly Weasley stalking around each other like cats in an alley, trying to be polite for the sake of their betrothed offspring, and actually managing to be civil in comparing notes of their respective babies.

There were those people who looked at Petunia and her half goblin baby with disgust, but Narcissa gritted her teeth to cuddle small Henry Snagfang Evans Hook, now mobile enough to get into mischief. Her determination to meet him was partly because Molly looked horrified.

"You've warded against the fae, of course?" she asked Petunia.

"Yes, Griphook says goblin children are at risk until they are seven," said Petunia.

"We had wards for Draco; the Malfoy line have Veela and other fae in their blood," said Narcissa. "Actually he looks much the way Draco did at that age, though the fragility is deceptive."

"I'm glad to have a woman to talk to about it," said Petunia. "You know what men, even the good ones, are like."

"Oh, yes," said Narcissa.

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"I can't believe what that old fool has done," said Severus, who was visiting the Granger-Evans ménage in Potter Manor. The families had decided to move lock stock and barrel, as the Grangers were finding that they were more involved in the wizarding world than the muggle world these days. Lucy and her parents also moved in to a barn conversion, and Lucy's mother helped Emma. Dan had qualified as a healer, and worked in St Mungo's, while Emma brewed from their new home. Potter Manor was a friendlier location than Prince Manor, and though not large by the standards of some purebreds, it made two very nice self-contained dwellings as well as the central part where the family might meet up. Indeed, they tended to eat together, even when the children were at school.

"What has Fumblebum done now?" asked Sirius. He and Remus were also regular guests.

"He is reviving the Triwizard Tournament," said Severus.

"Good grief, wasn't it stopped because so many people died?" asked Remus.

"Yes," said Severus, acidly. "He informed me, with that damned twinkle of his, that it would bring international co-operation, and that he would set up an age line to prevent anyone not over 17 from entering."

"I'm glad I'm Daisy Evans, not Harry Potter," said Daisy. "You can just bet someone out to test the chosen one would drop my name in it."

"And just in case he does, it constituting a binding contract which could strip you of your magic, we need to make sure there are ways round it," said Severus.

"We register Daisy's official signature as Marguerite Harriet Jamie Evans-Potter at Gringotts as her only true signature for documents," said Griphook, unperturbed. "Then if someone uses a slip from a piece of schoolwork, it don't count."

"Simple but brilliant," said Severus.

"Wizards aren't logical," said Griphook. "How do you think we came out of the geas laid on us at the end of the last war having essential control of the economy?"

"I must say that waging war on the economic front is more effective," said Severus.

"Do we assume that if I am entered it will be about trying to kill the potential spare chosen one, and what if he does it to Neville?" said Daisy.

"Buggeration," said Sirius.

"Advising Neville to adopt a middle name or two and signing them at Gringotts will do the same thing," said Griphook.

"If it's me, should I take the bait?" asked Daisy.

"No," said Severus. "We'll find out what's going on and sort them out."

"And Dumbledore has filled the DADA position with Alastor Moody, so I won't be there this year," said Lupin. "I cannot reasonably be supposed to be a better teacher than a retired auror."

"Andi wants to drop teaching so you could go as the history teacher," said Sirius. "I'll have that sorted out through Minnie."

"You didn't fancy arranging an accident to Trelawney and turning up in a gypsy skirt and long wig did you?" asked Snape.

"Now that would be a jape and a half," said Sirius. "But I don't think I could pull it off. Sorry."

"I might get a dog to guard my potion stores," said Severus.

"If her name comes out, I'll do it," said Sirius.

"Well, everyone needs dress robes because fourth years and up are going to the ball," said Severus.

"Now that is too much of a coincidence," said Daisy. "Fumblebum is either going to put in a name of his choice himself or expects someone else to do so. Or why have a ball reaching down as far as the fourth year when most fourth years are socially inept, have two left feet and the male ones smell too bad to want to dance with them?"

"Oy!" said Dudley.

"It's hormones, nothing personal," said Daisy. "I only smell bad once a month now I've become a werewoman."

Had not Severus made sufficient improvements on the wolfsbane potion this would not have been as funny, but Remus laughed heartly.

"A good way of looking at it until you settle fully into being a woman," he said.

The journey to school included the usually expanded compartment, and serious discussion about how dangerous the Triwizard competition might be, and how those who had defected from Durmstrang needed extra protection.

"We think we might have an idea about getting round the age line," said Fred.

"Don't," said Daisy, seriously, "It is something which is giving all the adults in our lives collywobbles about it being some kind of trap. Seriously, who in their right mind revives a competition known for its death rate? Severus reckons the headmaster is going along with it because he reckons that someone is going to put Harry Potter's name in, in the hopes he is still alive, and make him turn up to compete. And if they are going to do that, can you imagine what that means?"

"Someone wants to make sure Harry Potter is dead," said Draco.

"Give that boy house points," said Daisy.

"But if you've inherited the prophecy, won't your name come out?" asked Padma.

"This is why I, and Neville too, registered formal names for the signing of binding documents," said Daisy. "Because Nev is possibly at risk too."

The Weasley twins nodded.

"Right, so our main aim is in protecting those of you who might be targets, rather than the spurious glory of winning the contest," said George.

"The money would have been nice though, to set up our joke shop," said Fred.

"You two can speak perfectly sensibly when not out to rile people," said Daisy. "Look, if you need investors, why not ask the biggest richest voting block in the UK's wizarding world? In fact, I wager Sirius would be more than happy to do it, as a fellow marauder."

"There is that," said George.

"And thanks, we'll think about it," said Fred.

There were times to consider a few pranks before Halloween, when the other schools were to arrive, once the new firsties were settled in.

The teapots sang in beautiful harmony,

"Brew-brew-brew bop a lula brew brew" while Severus' coffee pot sang in a strangled falsetto

"why-hy hy am I-hi-hi so dryhy-i-hy, my oh my, he drinks me dry-hy-hy."

"Good grief, did they have to research the worst sort of songs of our era?" said Severus, to Lupin, who was still teaching History.

"I suppose it could be worse," said Lupin.

The tea strainers took up the refrain,

"Pot shewaddywaddy, pot shewaddywaddy."

"It's worse," said Severus.

"Ah the magic of music," said Albus.

"This is what happens when the brighter elements take two or three OWLs a year or two young," said Severus. "Too much time on their hands."

"But delightful charm work," squeaked little Flitwick.

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The Daisy Chain were frankly scornful of the shivering French witches and wizards who seemed not to have taken into account the latitudinal difference between the South of France and Ayreshire. That the Durmstrang ship could come up directly in the lake was frankly worrying.

"It's like L-space if all bodies of water are connected," muttered Dudley, who was a fan of Terry Pratchett. "And they all look like apes too."

"Only not as handsome as the Librarian. And let's keep a close eye on them, and get Myrtle to watch out for them too," said Daisy. "We have our Viktor and others to protect."

The erstwhile Durmstrang pupils were, in fact, all wearing emergency portkeys. One could not be too careful with an ex-deatheater for a headmaster of the Germanic school. The Daisy Chain ruthlessly de-sorted all their associates to make sure that no one table held a majority of any one house so that any intelligence passed to the pupils of either school would be for nothing. The newcomers hesitated, procrastinated, and were beamed at by enough people to find themselves split up and scattered.

"All in the spirit of international and interhouse co-operation," said Daisy, innocently, when McGonagall tried to ask what they were doing so spread apart.

The Daisy Chain did note the old-world courtesy with which the foreigners treated their heads.

"You do not rise for your headmaster?" asked the blonde and lovely girl who was causing some of the boys to gibber slightly.

"No, to receive respect we consider it necessary to behave in a way which is respectable," said Daisy. "You are part Veela, and I do wish you'd tone it down, I hate watching boys' tonsils."

"I am Fleur Delacour, and I cannot entirely help it."

"Ah? Oh well. You'd better sit with the Daisy Chain then, our boys are too sensible to be gulled with glamour and befuddled by bewitchment," said Daisy.

"Indeed," agreed Dudley.

"I am impressed," said Fleur. "I thought it might be because you were leetle boys, but I see, you have true loves."

Millie leaned smugly on Dudley, Ginny on Draco and Hermione on Neville.

"Eh bien! Though you are but children, you are more comfortable to be with," said Fleur.

"Oh, we do have conversation," said Daisy. She had the tact and reticence however not to ask if the visitors were all barking mad to lose a year's education for the dubious honour of visiting a foreign school when most of the visitors would not even be participating in the competition.

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The Goblet of Fire chose a boy called Albrecht Sternschein, Fleur Delacour and Viktor Krum-Prince.

The Daisy Chain shouted approval for their Viktor, and conjured illusions of dancing leprechauns.

And then the Goblet of Fire spat out another name.

"Harry Potter," said Dumbledore. The name burst into blue flame, and formed a circle, like some flaming hoop for muggle motorbike stunts. The room fell silent in expectation.

Daisy felt a most unpleasant pull where, she later described it to Severus, she would have had balls if only she had any, half lifted in her seat and fell down again as the hoop turned a most sickly pink and fizzled out.

Daisy fought nausea.

"Well, I never," said Draco. "I say, you types, had you noticed that Professor Moody is looking most awful green about the gills?"

"Why would Moody want to involve Harry Potter?" wondered Hermione.

"When is a Moody not a Moody?" said Luna.

"When he's a ringer," said Dudley. "Gosh, I didn't think there was anyone outside of Azkaban with a functioning dark mark any more."

"Let's borrow Sev's mark-in-a-jar and portkey him into the dungeons into a trap," said Daisy.

"Be careful, Daisy! You might get Bellatrix Black by mistake!" said Hermione.

"Not if we target it within yards not miles, and Luna looks at the patterns," said Daisy.

"It's muffled; I can only see it now because I'm looking," said Luna. "But we can do it."

"Well tell Sev first," said Hermione.

"Yes mummy," said Daisy.

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Severus was horrified to discover that the children thought that Alastor Moody was a ringer; the supposed old Auror had been sneering at Severus saying "Once a Death Eater, always a Death Eater," and Severus had been smiling at him beatifically and talking about his clever cat named Alastor.

He shuddered at Daisy's description of the feeling of what appeared to be some kind of magical portal, and was relieved that she had not been dragged into the circle of fire. Plainly the portal had recognised that Daisy was not disguised as Daisy but thought of herself as such.

"We will set up a dungeon room, the one Lupin used to use, and you will set off the portkey effect and immediately portkey out," he said. "And then I raise anti-portkey wards."

"We'll do it overnight," said Daisy. "Any glamour will be less effective and any polyjuice will wear off when he's asleep."

Severus nodded. He did not approve of late night excursions, but under the circumstances, it was justified.

In the event, they caught a slim, sandy haired man.

"Barty Crouch Junior," said Severus. "Another dead man with too, too solid flesh."

"You knew him, Horatius?" said Daisy, recognising a Hamlet quote when she heard one and deciding to cap it.

"Yes, he was a couple of years below me at school," said Severus. "Well, he isn't going anywhere; you children stay here, and I'll go see if I can find the real Alastor Moody."

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He returned an hour or so later.

"The real Alastor Moody was being kept prisoner in his own multidimensional trunk," he said. "I took him to the hospital wing, and he was so surprised he might even be accepting that I am not a death eater any more."

"So I should hope," said Daisy. "If he doesn't accept it, he had better beware of the Daisy Chain when he's better and suffer its outrageous slings and arrows."

"He's impressed by your constant vigilance in noticing something was wrong," said Severus. "Now off to bed with the lot of you. And those of you who are not Slytherin had better stay here for the night."

This was Luna and Neville, who beamed at him.

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Scrimgeor was horrified to be told who had been impersonating Moody, and why; Severus had used veritaserum.

"So ... HE is planning on making a new body?" he was shaking.

"Yes, and if I was you, I'd order the damned Unspeakables to put his horcruxes through the veil soonest, however marvellous the artefacts they are in," said Severus. "I didn't risk my life and soul helping to get them just to have Voldemort on the loose again. I'll consider any refusal to do so a direct snub of the Potter family and its allies," he added.

"Yes, quite, I will see it done myself," said Scrimgeour. "And Crouch ... well both must be arrested, of course."

"And please don't lose them," said Severus, waspishly. "Constant vigilance!"

"Quite so," said Scrimgeour. He had been trained by Moody after all.

Severus left Alastor to explain matters to Dumbledore. He had better things to do, and he suspected that the old Auror could put things more ... succinctly ... than he could. Albus was supposed to be an old friend of Moody after all.

The headmaster looked quite shell-shocked for several days. As Daisy said, the retired auror could manage a more pithy soliloquy than any mere Prince of Denmark any day.

Meanwhile, the Daisy Chain discovered that the first task was dragons, and ruthlessly coached Viktor in how to say 'your pardon, great mother, I need the false egg in your nest', and 'I not speak very well, pardon me' in parseltongue, having tested out that dragons could comprehend it.

Daisy snuck out to explain to the dragons that they were being used in a stupid competition, and to ask them not to hurt the contestants too much unless they hurt them first.

The boy from Durmstrang used the conjunctivitis curse and Severus went white when Daisy leaped onto her broom and flew into the arena to grab the real eggs and move them before their mother stood on them. She was flying just about under the feet of the dragon, and only her fast reflexes kept her and the eggs safe.

"I am going to kill someone over this crazy idea," Severus muttered. "Should never have let her speak to Hagrid. Memo to self, keep Daisy locked in a box for the rest of her school life."

Herr Sternschein was badly burned, and none of the dragon-loving Daisy Chain were in the least bit sympathetic. Daisy herself soothed the Chinese fireball, using curing runes and explaining that her eggs were safe whilst Severus had kittens over her safety. Daisy sat on the ground petting the big, scaled head while she did her rune work.

"How does she get away with it?" demanded Severus.

"It's Daisy, what do you expect?" said Hermione, unanswerably.

Fleur got a little singed, and Viktor spoke quietly but firmly, and was escorted by the cranky Hungarian Horntail to remove the wrong egg.

Albrecht Sternschein had to be withdrawn from the competition being too badly wounded to go on, and Karkaroff glowered at Viktor.

"Of course, if I had been still at Durmstrang, I would have known no better than violence, and would not have learned to speak to dragons," said Viktor, to his fan club. "I am very glad that English I am now. Or Irish. Begorrah."

Once the collective Daisy chain solved the riddle, Daisy stood up in the great hall.

"I swear upon my magic that if any of my friends or their family are harmed by the execution of the second test, I will declare a blood feud on anyone who agreed to this ridiculously puerile test," she said.

Dumbledore went white.

The second test was going to have to be seriously modified. Just in case. Daisy had, after all, been making friends with Fleur. And Fleur had asked Viktor to the ball as they were both in similar case, and were immune to each other's fame or allure.

Dumbledore was thinking of plywood cutouts.

It was such a shame Harry Potter had not been alive to be summoned. Dumbledore had not confessed to Moody that he was fairly sure that his old friend had been impersonated, but that he wanted to see how the scheme played out, in the genuine hope that Harry Potter was alive. But the gate had not brought anyone, and that made the rest of the competition pointless, in any case.

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The next anticipated event for the competition was the Yule Ball, and Dumbledore had already made it compulsory to remain for it for fourth years and above. Viktor and Fleur decided to go as a couple, because it would mess with the heads of the organisers, Fleur having been let in on the belief of the Daisy Chain that the revival of the Triwizard Competition was nothing but an excuse to find Harry Potter.

Fleur, not happy that she would be at a disadvantage in a watery environment, was happy to go along with any plans to mess with Dumbledore's head. As the fourth year had to go to the ball, whether they wanted to or not, the Daisy Chain talked almost all the whole year into foregoing formal robes to dress as pirates. Practising saying 'AARRRGH' and 'Yo ho ho!' amused the fourth well enough. The Room of Requirements was raided for old clothes to be adapted, and the Hufflepuffs were the envy of their fellows when they unearthed a trunk in their boxroom of knee breeches and velvet coats. Ron Weasley led a daring raid on Sybil Trelawny's tower for scarves to make bandanas from, and Ginnie Weasley's sewing skills were in demand for costumes, while Daisy conducted the Slytherin pirates in singing "Yes, we have no bandanas." Slytherin House did, however, have curtained doors to help the warmth of the dungeon, and brass curtain rings were pressed into service for earrings, and Draco came up with the idea of transfiguring woolly hats into tricorns. Daisy turned a cushion into a parrot which shouted 'pieces of seventeen' to reflect that they were on a Galleon standard, not a Spanish Dollar.

"Oh bother," said Daisy, when it was too late to do anything else. "We could have gone as Maoris and done the Haka."

"We can do that next year if they keep the ball," said Neville. Hermione rolled her eyes, but Daisy was well aware that she was wondering where to research the Haka.

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The Yule Ball proceeded with more enthusiasm on the part of the younger members after the Daisy Chain sabotaged the Weird Sisters and their drab music with silencing spells after about half an hour, and let loose with a rune-protected ghetto blaster with Inkubus Sukkubus, Linkin Park, Khorne and moshed to Let The Bodies Hit the Floor. It tickled their collective sense of humour that the lyrics almost mirrored the dark rite Barty Crouch Junior had planned to use Harry Potter for.

The faculty might have taken a dimmer view had not Severus been moshing with Sirius and Remus, and the headmaster was doing his best to join in. It may be said that Severus was only moshing to irritate Scrimgeour.

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Somewhere in Little Hangleton an obscene baby was being tended not very well by Bertha Jorkins under Imperius curse. Despairing of Junior returning to him, the Nappied Nutter made Bertha take the dark mark in order to call for any followers who were still loyal. As most of these were in Azkhaban inside anti-apparating wards, he was doomed to deal only with Yaxley and McNair. They were, however, able to fill him in on the fate of Barty Crouch junior, and how Harry Potter had not turned up in any way, shape or form. They had been lucky that the aurors searching the area had not found Bertha and her charge – or unlucky in Bertha's case – but what Yaxley and McNair did not know was that apparition alerts had been set up, anti-apparition wards triggered as soon as a task force was sent in, and the two death eaters, Bertha and the Putrid Prodigy were arrested and the big snake killed. It soon became clear that Bertha was a victim, and Severus Snape was sent for to remove her dark mark before she was bundled off to St Mungos. The Unspeakables got the Barmy Baby to study instead of the horcruxes, but it did not survive long.

The Spirit of Tom Riddle emerged crying

"I will retuur...nnnoooooooooo!" as it dissipated.

Albus Dumbledore could not believe that Voldemort was dead because the prophecy had not been fulfilled.

"Meh," said Daisy, drinking hot chocolate in Severus' rooms with the Daisy Chain. "If I was the prophecy, I reckon lifting out the dark mark was what killed him for real."

"I wouldn't say you were wrong," said her betrothed husband.

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The Daisy Chain were a bit more worldly wise by this Valentine party, and consequently the confetti raining down on the heads of those in the great hall was found to be heart-shaped paper packets containing condoms. The purebloods had to have the concept explained to them, and several of the items were swiftly and covertly slipped into pockets by the older students. Severus sighed, rose, and said,

"And I just transfigured all those in Slytherin pockets to contain a hole, so please maintain continence."

He could not prevent brisk trade for the items between his upper classmen and members of other houses but he might scare some of them into abstinence.

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The second task went ahead, with Viktor an easy victor, as Fleur did not like cold water. Karkaroff had been unable to kidnap Viktor as the boy refused to be alone with him, and was guarded by members of the Daisy Chain at all times. Right after the competition, when Viktor was weakened and vulnerable, Karkaroff thought he had a chance until he slipped into the medical tent and discovered a dozen Viktor Krums. Polyjuice was such a useful potion.

Karkaroff declared that the whole competition was unfair as his man was too badly hurt to compete, and by the way it wasn't fair. He wanted to take his students and retire but apparently this was against the rules.

As the honking daffodils were going on bloom, Daisy and friends decided to teach them the Song of the Drunken Philosophers. They got the Mandrakes singing the words.

This resulted in several weeks of detention with Madam Sprout who was not amused to be informed that René Descartes was a drunken fart, I drink, therefore I am.

Grubby and dung-flavoured but unbowed, Daisy suggested a prank on the examiners when they came, as most of the school was not exempt from OWLs and NEWTs.

Madam Marchbanks was horrified to find the shards of a chicken egg and a toad amongst them. Trevor was happy to co-operate for a bit of bribery. The sound of hissing behind a sofa caused her to flee.

Dumbledore himself investigated and discovered a muggle draught excluder in the shape of a snake, charmed to hiss if a noise was heard. Such sophisticated Waffling logic was the province of Hermione Granger, though they had all participated.

The examiners were much relieved.

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Fleur fared better with the maze challenge, when it came, and she and Viktor decided to share the prize. They did extensive tests on the cup before touching it, as Fleur could manage the arithmancy to work out where it ported them to.

It was not Little Hangleton.

The Daisy Chain celebrated the end of the competition with a smooth set of switching charms, set off by runes, to swap the costumes of the two visiting schools, including a switch of garments by gender. The butch boys from Durmstrang looked particularly silly in powder blue twinsets.

"Mischief managed," said Daisy.

 **The end?**


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